Happily Ever After
by Edrox
Summary: This is my hit at a 3rd season. Max and the others are trapped in TC, surrounded by White’s men. A new little sister comes along. Deck reappears isn’t he just our favorite bad guy?. X5s reunion. More Familiars and how to deal with them. R
1. Getting Out

**Title: **...Happily Ever After

**Author's name: **Roxy

**Beta:** Rose

**Category:** Humor, Romance and Action. (M/L)

**Rating:** PG 13

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee. I don't own Dark Angel, though Noah and Lou do belong to me. I am making no money out of this.

**Summary:** This is my hit at a 3rd season. Max and the others are trapped in TC, surrounded by White's men. A new little sister comes along. Deck reappears (isn't he just our favorite bad guy?). X5s reunion. More Familiars and how to deal with them.

**Notes:** Keep in mind that I am not a native speaker. I had already posted this under the title 'Third Season' but I wasn't satisfied with the level of English and I didn't have any beta. There are some slight changes such as the insertion of the character Noah, that's from another fic I wrote ('Phoney Sentimentality')

****

**... Happily Ever After**

**Chapter I: Getting Out**

She didn't like planes. You had to sit in them for hours and she didn't like staying inactive for too long. She needed action, they all did. Usually, she would pretty soon draw attention to herself by getting up all the time, talking to her neighbors who weren't always in the mood to explain what they thought about the political system in South Indonesia and she would become very annoyed herself because she would be annoying those around her.

However, today, this trip was different. She had a lot on her mind, they all had. This plane was taking her to America, her mother country and yet the very last place she wanted to be. But she was needed there even if she wasn't quite sure how she was going to be able to help.

She couldn't just stay there at her parents' safe in England. That would be too easy and like said earlier, she hated staying inactive for too long. She couldn't have bared the others fighting for their rights, for _her_ rights while she was spending her holidays surfing and tanning in the Caribbean.

It had all started with rumors on transgenic beings escaped from a secret governmental lab a couple of years before and now hiding in Terminal City somewhere in Seattle, Washington, USA. According to some reporters, many more of those 'genetically modified beings' were arriving from everywhere to get inside Terminal City, normal people were now afraid of a possible attack so the army had been surrounding what had become 'transgenic HQ'.

Well, if it was true, if all the others were gathering up in this 'Terminal City' (such a nice comforting name) then she was sure to find familiar faces there. Well, at least she hoped she would... The thought of being stuck with hundred of Nomalies (ew!) made her shiver. There are some fears you just can't get rid of, the important thing is just not to let them show in front of potential enemies or friends for that matter, if you see what I mean.

Her Mum was worried. But then again, Mums are _always_ worried even when they don't have an adopted genetically engineered daughter going to join the transgenic lost cause in what has become a third world country.

How reassuring! So Mum worried, Dad upset saying she should mind her own business and ought to go snowboarding in the French Alps instead. That's the way Dads are: less sentimental but just as worried as Mums.

Anyway, she had made them understand (at least she thought she had) that she was needed and that there was no way for them to hold her back. They had given up, Mum had cried, asked William (the butler) to make an apple pie for the trip, cried some more, checked the weather in Seattle to make sure she packed adequate clothes while crying. Dad had mumbled something about her daughter being so stubborn it wouldn't be surprising if she turned out to be his real daughter. Then he had dragged her into a bear hug and wished her good luck.

She had promised she'd call as soon as she could but all three very well knew that given the givens, that wouldn't be before long.

She had a lot of questions and she knew Seattle was the only place she could have answers. There were those markings that had started appearing all over her body: when they disappeared, new ones always appeared somewhere else. She had no way of finding out what they meant so she had tried to ignore them, but she had lamely failed.

Dad had almost had a heart attack discovering them. He thought his beloved daughter had gotten a tattoo ('And an ugly one too' Mum had noted. 'Thanks Mum'). Then, when Dad had seen them fade away and then pop back again, he had got scared and no matter how hard he had tried hiding it, his dear stubborn daughter had felt it. For the first time ever since they had adopted her, both of her parents felt overtaken.

She had been granted high sensory capacity, more than any of the others. She could smell fear, any kind of feeling and any change of attitude. She was a human lying detector. Plus she also had an extraordinary sixth sense. Whether that was intended or not at her creation, she didn't know. But it was there all right.

You don't dream that your grand mother's dead when she is perfectly healthy without asking yourself any questions, especially when you find out the next morning that your grand mother really did die over night. She had a lot of intuitions of this sort about the others... Rather bad ones about Ben or Tinga...

She shook her head to get rid of these bad thoughts. The plane was landing and it was the first time she thought the trip had been too short.

--------------------

Things were bad... and that was the euphemism of the century. Things were really screwed up! What had ever happened to that nice normal life of hers...? Oh, yeah... she had opened the doors of the Manticore zoo!

Max was anxious and she wasn't really familiar with the feeling and so far, she didn't like it either. She was considered by all as the transgenic leader and therefore was in charge of the whole transgenic population. Boy, did she understand Zack now, even though looking out for twelve isn't exactly the same thing as looking out for... how many were they anyway?

"Max?" Alec burst into the room, "Look I know you got a lot on your mind lately-"

'You have no idea' Max thought but remained silent.

"-X1s, X6s, X7s, these are weird little fellows, X8s and more of Joshua's buddies, if you see what I mean, are coming in! This is crazy; we don't have enough supplies for everyone!"

"Alec I know! But before I take care of the whole Manticorian population, I gotta think of a way of getting our normal population outta here!" Max replied.

She was talking about Original Cindy, Sketchy and Logan of course. Ordinaries couldn't stay long in Terminal City because of the radiations. And the effects were starting to show up on all three of them.

Max had thought it through; it would be easier to get O.C. and Sketchy out of there making believe they were hostages... Logan was the trouble, Ames White knew him and he would track him down no matter what.

"Max?" Mole's grumpy voice groaned entering the room.

"What now?" Max sighed.

"Some weirdo says she's an X5 and asks to talk to the one in charge here" he groaned back.

"Is it really an X5 or is it another C.J. kinda X5?" she rolled her eyes.

"Dunno" Mole said lighting up his last cigar, "Girl seems young to me plus she looks... preppy"

"Preppy?" Max frowned.

"Yeah, preppy" Mole shrugged, "Like she's coming straight from Logan's family, no offence meant of course"

"Of course" Alec smirked.

Max had managed to wield the toughest creatures in TC and Alec just found that amazing.

"I don't trust her-"Mole started.

"Why am I not surprised?" Alec said immediately looking out the window as to pretend somebody else had said it.

If Max had the respect of all, Alec was far from impressing Mole and he really did not feel like getting involve in a fight with the reptile man in person but then again, keeping his smartass remarks to himself was something he couldn't do.

"I don't think it's an ordinary" Mole went on, "No ordinary can get through the military perimeter White and his gang's installed but she might just be a Familiar, you know, one of White's spy. Also says she's an '09"

"Maybe you're a little paranoid, Mole-" Max said getting more and more interested.

"Just a little" Alec repeated.

"-I don't think White would send one of his familiars pretending she's an '09 when I know all of them already" Max added.

Mole let out a grouching noise and went back to smoking his cigar.

"Anyway, there's only one way to find out" Max shrugged, "Check if her bar-code's for real. What's her designation?"

"Won't let me check it. Says she's X5 515" Mole said sending out another of smoke.

Max's tired expression was replaced by astonishment. During a second she thought her ears had deceived her.

"515?" she stammered.

"Yeah... Why? D'you know her? Is she really an '09?" Mole asked.

Without answering, Max got out of the room, rushed down the metal stairs, ran through a corridor to arrive in the main room where the transgenics had installed all their technical equipment.

Thoughts were also rushing in her mind. Thirteen '09s as they called them... thirteen. She had never found out who all the others were. She knew about Zack, Zane, Jondy, Syl, Krit, Ben, Tinga, Brin and herself but that still left out room for four others... Could it be that...? Only Zack knew that for sure.

She stopped in the middle of the room and her attention was immediately caught by an unknown yet familiar face. Long brown curly hair, pulled back in a carefully worked out pony tail , large almond shaped hazel eyes such as hers, a frail figure... no mistaking that, it had to be her, yet Max wasn't sure...

She had noticed her at once and her sixth sense told her it was Max, it had to be her. It was neither Tinga nor Jace; it was Max. Her gaze broke into a smile, washing away all of Max's last doubts, it was her little kid sister.

Max rushed towards her with open arms. Mole and Alec had tagged along and Mole watched the whole scene with a disapproving look on his reptilian face.

After releasing her kid sister from her embrace, Max dragged her to Alec and Mole in order to introduce her.

"Mole, Alec, this is my baby sister Lou" Max said grinning.

"We've met" Lou casually said shaking hands with Mole.

When she took Alec's hand, she froze and scanned his entire face.

"What's wrong kiddo?" Alec asked uneasy.  
  
"You... remind me of someone..." Lou stammered.

"Ben" Max said, "You'll have to get used to the idea that... we all have clones" she added.

"Clones? What the-"

"I'll explain later" Max said, "Manticore had a lot of secrets"

"Think I need some serious catch up" Lou said frowning.

---------------------

"Are you sure we can trust him Zack?" X5 701 Syl said loud enough for the 4 X5s in the room to hear her but not enough for the one concerned to even catch a single word.

"You wanna help Max? Then we don't have a choice" X5 599 Zack whispered back.

"I don't like the idea myself" X5 344 Noah said out loud for everyone to hear.

She was leaning against the wall, her dark curls framing her caramel face in which her green eyes stood out.

Lydecker looked up to her and said:

"Can't blame you. But you gotta admit I'm the only one that can help you. If I didn't care, I would've let the government accomplish its plan without interfering and that would mean the end of all the transgenic and the end... of Manticore"

"What is it Deck? Feeling nostalgic?" Noah scoffed.

"Check it out" X5 471 Krit said turning the TV volume up.

"Authorities won't tell us much but this young lady seems to be the transgenic leader" the reporter said as the camera man was having a rather enjoyable time filming Max from head to toe "It seems the transgenics are willing to release two hostages though we don't exactly know how many they have. It seems that their leader is escorted by both a dog man and -oh, my god!- a reptile man as she is leading her two hostages to the boarders of the perimeter fence. The first hostage is a young white man. He seems quite terrified. And we all wonder how they'll ever go back to a normal life after spending a few days with nothing but transgenics. The other hostage is a black young woman who-"the reporter went on and on.

"These are no hostages" Zack said, "It's Sketchy and Original Cindy. They work with Max"

"Well, at least, they're out of this bitch" Syl said.

"I wonder where Logan is?" Noah asked almost to herself.

"How come you know Logan?" Krit asked her.

"It's a long story" Noah said.

"We should get started" Lydecker said, "We haven't got much time"

--------------------

Lou was sitting in the room in which the transgenics had installed their technical equipment. She leaned forward in order to look at her reflection in the computer's black screen, to check if her hair was still in place. But she was rudely interrupted as a blond head with blue eyes popped on the screen.

"Terminal City? Terminal City? ...This is Colonel Donald Lydecker... Do you copy? Identify yourself!" the voice coming out of the computer asked.

"I was told you were dead. What a disappointment!"

Lou loudly sighed. If you had been interrupted in the middle of doing your hair by the old jerk that had haunted your childhood and therefore found out that he was still alive, you would have sighed too.

"State your designation soldier" the voice ordered again.

"We're not in Manticore anymore Lydecker" Lou said annoyed.

"Who are you?" Deck asked again raising his voice.

"What? Don't recognize your precious kids? Heard you had spent half your life chasing us" Lou said even more annoyed.

Lydecker paused for a few seconds, like searching in his memory. He knew the '09s, he knew all of them and it didn't take him long to realize that the young woman in front of him was...

"X5 515-"

"-I prefer to be called Lou" the teenager replied dryly.

"I need to talk to Max"

"Well, that's rude! Not only do you interrupt me in the middle of setting my hair right but you also want to deprive me of the pleasure of having a quite cordial exchange of insults with you. Now don't you-"Lou started.

"Lou, what's going on?" Max asked from behind.

"Max? This is Lydecker"

"Lydecker? I thought you were dead!" Max frowned walking to the computer followed by Logan and Alec.

"So I was told" Lydecker answered, "Look Max, you're all in great danger-"

"Thank you so much for briefing me. Really I had no idea; I was wondering what all these militaries were doing outside. The thought never crossed my mind that they were maybe... laying siege to starve us!" she raised her tone.

"There's another danger Max and I have-" Lydecker repeated still calm.

"Oh, let me guess, you have a miraculous solution and you expect me to trust you?" Max interrupted.

"Does anybody care at all? I was in the middle of a-"Lou started.

"Max? You're at the mercy of White's men. Why would I even bother if it wasn't to help you?" Lydecker asked.

"Because you've probably plotted something more twisted in that bent little mind of yours" Max replied.

"How about an open trash-Decki-down game?" Lou proposed.

"Max, I'm here with Zack and other of your brothers and sisters. You have to trust me" Lydecker said.

"Nice try" Max scoffed, "Zack's safe living a normal life, away from you, from White and his sick little gang"

"Not so far away" a familiar voice said as a blond man appeared behind Lydecker.

Max's mouth dropped open and her breath was cut. Lou looked from the screen to Max and then back to the screen.

"What? What's up with Zack?" Lou asked.

Alec put a hand on Lou's shoulder in order to make her shut up and gave her the-long-story-look, look that Lou was far from enjoying. Geez, turn your back around for twelve years and the whole world learns to turn without you! She leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms on her chest.

"How do we know you're not a clone?" Alec asked before Max could recollect enough breath to speak.

"Because no one can pretend being X5 599" Zack said proudly.

Max still didn't say anything.

"Fine, ask me a question and let's get on with it because you're in danger" he said harshly like the real Zack would have said.

Max still didn't say anything. Her eyes were still fixed on the blond man on the screen behind Lydecker. Suddenly they turned to pouting Lou who looked up questioningly. In half a second the teenager understood what his big sister wanted and forgot her bad mood. Her brows relaxed and she turned back towards the screen. She studied it for a moment.

"Hey, Lou" Zack said mellowing.

Lou didn't answer immediately; she frowned still looking at the screen. Then, she relaxed again, leaned back and casually said:

"Hey big bro"

Lou looked up to Max, standing beside her and nodded.

"Ok, what's up?" Max asked.

Lydecker then informed Max that an air raid was planned on Terminal City in five days, even though the press had declared that they were still human hostages within TC. The government could no longer hide the existence of transgenics, it therefore made sense for them to try and destroy them. The Seattle population around the area of TC was being evacuated and that meant no good.

"What the hell are we suppose to do?" Max asked panicked.

Lydecker had a plan and a place to hide everyone. Their job was to get out of TC.

"Easier said than done" Alec mumbled.

"Yeah, in case you hadn't noticed, we're a little... how shall I put it... surrounded!" Lou said harshly.

Lydecker than suggested using the draining pipes at first and then to dig at a particular place to make a tunnel, the transgenics were then supposed to reach the surface and get to... Max didn't even want to think about what the place Lydecker had found would be like. A new Manticore?

This was all secondary. If air raids were to take place and she had the responsibility of them all; she had to act, she had to do something no matter what. Yet, she couldn't feel but desperate and pessimistic about the whole thing.

"Five days! There's no way we can get everyone out in five days!" she pleaded.

"Max, you're underestimating Manticore. You have every single kind of soldiers ever created by Manticore, there are some that are specialized in underground business, just give them the map I've sent you, you'll be surprised. You've got to trust me on this, Max! We've got no time to loose! Think about Logan!" Lydecker said.

Lou sighed again. Yep, Deck had aimed right. Logan had been standing in silence behind them all along. Well, not exactly in silence. He had interrupted the conversation by his coughing every two seconds. Poor guy just couldn't hold his radiations. If he no longer needed his exoskeleton to walk thanks to Joshua's last blood transfusion, he hadn't become a transgenic. He was still a normal ordinary human capable of impressive things yes, yet high immunology wasn't part of it.

Max's heart seemed to enlarge in her chest. Logan was getting bad, he didn't talk about it, he didn't complain, but he was getting really bad. She nodded, took the map and asked Lydecker to contact her within a few hours. Then, she turned to Joshua and said:

"Call everyone, general meeting; we gotta work our way outta here before those jerks out there blow us up!"

--------------------

Everything was planned. First, they were going to use the pipes to get out and then those weird bright-eyed creatures were going to come in handy. Thanks to their incredible skills, they dug a tunnel large enough for everyone to fit and all this in less than four days, of course, all the others gave a hand, but they were the ones that did most of the job.

Everybody agreed that they would not be put back into another Manticore. Most of the transhumans believed in Max as if she was their messiah: they would follow her no matter where she would go.

So, they all agreed to go back because they knew they had to stick together if they wanted to fight and someday be able to live like 'upstairs people'. Even the most uncommon creatures, like Mole, secretly wished it was what their future was made of.

Day 5 came; the air raids were to start around noon according to Lydecker. Some of the X series had started going through the tunnel during the night, especially the ones with babies. They were evacuating TC progressively so the 'norms' outside wouldn't suspect anything. Transgenics had decided to keep showing an activity inside till the very last moment.

Max was sitting on the roof, staring at calm, sleepy Seattle in front of her. Everything was calm, too calm she thought. How did the 'norms' expect them not to sense that something was coming up?

Logan walked towards her. She could not see him as he was coming from behind, but she heard him quite clearly. When he reached her, he put his gloved hand on her shoulder. She grabbed it and squeezed it as he told her:

"I'm really proud of you, you know? It's a big thing you're getting yourself into"

"I know. I'm just not sure I'm up to it. They all seem to believe in me and I've never been so unsure about anything, are they right to trust me the way they do? Am I right to trust Lydecker? Am I not leading everyone into a trap?"

"Believe in yourself Max, do whatever feels right. I don't know if Sandeman ever knew such a thing was going to happen but it's as if you were made for this, to lead and defend your own kind. I'm sure that whatever you decide it'll be for the best"

"What am I going to do without you?" Max asked smiling sadly.

"You'll be busy and all, you won't even have the time to think about me" Logan shrugged.

"I'll come and see you once you're in the hospital. According to Lydecker, you'll be safe there: he's got you a new name, ID. Once again, it's according to Lydecker. He says he knows the doctors anyway and that-" Max said more trying to reassure herself than Logan.

"Stop worrying about me. I'll be fine, take care of yourself and your siblings, especially that new little sister of yours. Lou, some interesting new kind of X5. I mean I had already been confronted with mean killing machine X5, goody sociopath X5 and now I've met posh X5. Maybe you guys could start the Spice Girls again"

Max snorted but her smile quickly faded away.

"Funny isn't she? Yet, coming all the way here from England to give us a hand... She didn't have to... she could've stayed there living her little life, which from what I've heard seemed to be perfectly normal: parents, nice house, dog, studies, boyfriends she could actually touch"

"Everything you've always wanted to have and to be" Logan noted.

"I'm not feeling sorry for myself, I just think it's gotta be hard for her to leave all that to come and live here with us. I mean she's only seventeen, she's just a kid"

"I don't agree" Logan said, "I think she's never been a normal girl, no matter how hard any of you may try to fit in, you guys are different and it's up to us to get used to it, like Lou's parents did. And don't worry... I gotta feeling she'll get along just fine" he shrugged.

Max got up and left Logan alone on the roof. She stepped into the room where her sister was sleeping; it was four in the morning. Lou was lying on the ground, her head resting on her bag, sleeping like a baby. Max slowly leaned over her sister's ear and whispered:

"Time to wake up sleeping beauty, today's the big day"

"Is it morning yet?" mumbled Lou in a yawn.

"No, not yet but we've got business to do"

"Yeah, yeah..." Lou mumbled back, "Taking care of the others, making sure everybody's out before noon... I know, I know... When did I ever become Mother Teresa?"

"Please, you're sounding like Alec"

"You say this like it's a bad thing" Alec said coming from behind.

"Hum..." Lou snorted "Thought you were busy with cat lady"

"Nah" Alec replied, "Think she has a thing for those of us that are mostly canine DNA... if you see what I mean"

"Who'd have thought?" Lou yawned back.

"Cat lady? What are you? In heat 24/7 or something?" Max frowned.

"Max, don't try to understand the alpha male that I am. This is beyond your intendment" Alec said taking a superior look.

--------------------

Max was once again standing on the roof. TC was empty except for her, Lou, Alec, Joshua, Zen (X8 698), two X6s and Logan who was looking more awful than ever. Noon stroke and helicopters made their way through the clouds and circled TC.

"Militaries" Max sighed, "So always on time, it's almost pathetic! You'd think they'd have some sort of life"

"Well, look at Deck!" Lou shrugged, "Of course they don't have a life!"

"You guys better go" Max said turning to Logan, Alec and Joshua, "We'll meet you as soon as the show starts"

She knew it would take longer for Logan to make it to the tunnel and once in, it would take him even longer to get through and back to the surface.

"What if the tunnel doesn't resist the first raids? What if it collapses? You'll be stuck here!" Logan said, "That wasn't part of the plan"

"Then, you'll have to blame our bright-eyed friends for the bad work they've accomplished" Max shrugged.

"I'm not kidding Max!" Logan said threateningly.

"They have to believe we're all still in here, there's no other way! I betcha some journalists paid a whole lot of money just to be in those helicopters to record the end of the ordinary people's nightmare and we're going to give them exactly what they want!"

"You heard the lady" Lou said, "So no argument, that's the plan now, besides I'm sure me and my big sis are fast enough!"

As usual, Max had decided something and she was not about to change a single bit about it. Plus she was backed up by posh X5 in person, so the others all gave up, even Logan.

He wanted to stay of course, but he knew that his physical condition would only slow her down and make it more dangerous for her. He had already stayed up until then, it was time to go. Joshua gave Max a sad look but he also reconciled himself to his little fella's will.

So they were left, just the two of them on the roof, looking at Seattle. Everything was still so calm except for the helicopters' roamings.

"Ready to do this all the way, little sis?" Max smirked.

"I'm no half ass" Lou shrugged, "All the way it is"

A first bomb fell over the building beside them, yet they didn't budge. Another fell on the other side and only then did they allowed themselves to move. They rushed back inside the building. Everything was already collapsing around them and some things were even on fire.

They jumped down the stairs and reached for the opening leading to the draining. Lou jumped in first ('Kids first' she said. 'Hey, I'm no kid!') and then Max closed the opening behind them so they would not get any of the wreckages. They ran through the draining, large enough for them to stand fully and be side by side, finally they reached the part where the transgenics had started digging and without a hesitation they both rushed into it.

It was dark, but their eyes could see perfectly, they ran without ever looking back, if they had though they would've seen the entrance to the tunnel collapse just like Logan had predicted it.

When Max and Lou reached the surface, they found themselves in the middle of nowhere and met with Joshua and Alec, safe and sound. A car was already taking Logan away leading him to a hospital, like Lydecker had promised. Max barely had the time to say goodbye for he was already in the car when she arrived.

How do you say good bye if you can't kiss, if you can't even touch? So, she just stood there, watching the car driving away, without ever taking her eyes off Logan. He smiled, happy to see she had once again made it. When the car was out off sight, Alec came near her and said:

"He was really in a bad state, I mean I know he wasn't in a good condition when we left TC and all but the way through the tunnel really tired him, at the end, he could barely walk and worrying about you didn't make it any better"

"I don't think I'm gonna see him for a while now. I hope he's gonna be all right" she said slowly.

"Max, get over it! The guy actually had a life before you, not a very thrilling life, but a life anyway. He can take care of himself" Alec smirked.

"Alec?" Lou said, "I think that if you don't shut up in the next two seconds, you won't have any thing left to go mess around with cat lady"

"Cat lady?" Joshua asked looking nervous all of the sudden.

"Nah, don't worry buddy" Alec patted him in the back, "I'm not the kind of guy that'll be standing in your way"

"Like you'd stand a chance anyway" Max scoffed.

"A chance to what? Stand in Joshua's way or to get busy with Cat lady?" Lou asked amused.

"Get busy?" Joshua repeated.

"Why do you always have to do this?" Alec asked Max.

"What?" Max asked defensively.

"Drag me down like that" Alec replied, "I mean what's our kiddo here going to think?" he added talking about Lou.

"Hey, I'm always open to switch from a trash-Decki-down-game to a trash-Alec-down-game?" Lou shrugged.

"You, young lady" Alec said pointing a threatening finger at Lou, "better watch your vocabulary when you talk to your big brother's clone"

"Shut up Alec" Max said walking away.

"Yeah, you wouldn't want to turn out like your big sister-" Alec told Lou in a confident tone though very well aware that Max could hear him.

"Alec-" Max said as a warning.

"-rude and playing tough chick" he added anyway.

"Shut up!" she said finally smacking him in the head.

--------------------

**End of the Chapter**

(please review!!!)

****


	2. Back in Manticore? Part One

**Title:** Happily Ever After...  
  
**Author's name:** Roxy  
  
**Author's email:** roxymusic38hotmail.com  
  
**Beta:** Rose  
  
**Beta's email:** arwenqis.net  
  
**Category:** Action, Humor and Romance. (M/L)  
  
**Rating:** PG  
  
**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee. I don't own Dark Angel, though Noah and Lou do belong to me. I am making no money out of this.  
  
**Summary:** This is my hit at a 3rd season. Max and the others are trapped in TC, surrounded by White's men. A new little sister comes along. Deck reappears (isn't he just our favorite bad guy?). X5s reunion. More Familiars and how to deal with them.  
  
**Previous Chapter:** Max hooks up with Lou a long time no see baby sister with weird abilities. The trannies along with Lydecker, fouled Ames White into thinking that he's managed to get rid of them using military air force and turning TC into ashes. Logan is in hospital while OC and Sketchy are back in the free world.  
  
**Feedback:** _Black Rose:_ I'm glad Lou gets on your nerves, because I would strangle her if I had to spend an hour in the same room with her. She's meant to be the selfish spoiled brat kid that she is, eventually she'll change a bit, we'll see about that. It also is an image that she's cultivating, you know. She actually likes being seen that way. And anyway, what's the point in only having characters that people love, right? Ships um... yeah, there might be. M/L for sure, for the rest keep reading and reviewing. Thanks.  
  
_BlueAngel:_ Now that's the kind of review that keeps me going for sure. Thanks. Hope you'll enjoy this chapter as much as the previous one. It's a bit lighter but it won't always be. Things are slowly putting themselves into place.  
  
_Agmgdafan: _Hey, I know you... you had already reviewed this story when it was entitled Third Season. Nice of you to go through it again. So, what d'you think? Is it any better? I know the plot's mostly the same but what about the writing? I'm working hard on that you know! Lol! You'll notice that this chapter has nothing to do with Chapter II of Third Season, so... keep reading and thanks.  
  
_Allison Lightning: _Wow! Lol! Thanks a lot Allison, your review made my day!  
  
_M/L Only:_ Of course, there's going to be more M/L. If there had been an S3, I wouldn't have seen it any other way. I've come across some really good M/A fic though I don't think I'll ever write any. It would be like being untrue to someone... lol! I'm nuts. Anyway, there's gonna plenty of M/L in this fic, maybe even some smut coming up... Oh, no, I've said too much!!!  
  
_Tabitha5: _Thanks, hope you'll like the rest as well... Aren't you also one of the readers that had read Third Season before? If not, sorry, I'm mistaking you for somebody else... I'm such a geek lol!  
  
_I would also like to thank all those that reviewed on darkangeltv.com; brokenworld.tk and livejournal.com... Oh, and I also thank Rose, my beta babe ;D!  
_  
**Further Notes** (I swear, you'll get to read the chapter after that lol!): I had to split this chapter in two. It's not especially longer than the previous one but for some reason, ff.net kept cutting it in the middle!!! Don't ask me why, I have no idea! I tried several times and each time it cut it! So, anyway, here it is, in two parts but here... behold Chapter II (I'm nuts, haven't I already mentioned that?)  
  
-------------------  
  
**Happily Ever After...**  
  
****

**Chapter II (Part 1): Back in Manticore?**

They were out of TC alright, but where to?

Max wasn't quite sure and she feared the very thought of finding out where trusting Lydecker had lead them. Maybe he had helped them take down the DNA lab, a mission that had cost her own life but then again Max knew too well how some missions could go sideways even when you least expected them to. She hadn't planned on leading the transgenics into all this when she had first set them free.

Anyway, Max was anxious and so were all the others. Now that she didn't have Logan anymore she felt... alone and insecure. Paradoxical; since she was the one that was supposed to assure his protection and not the other way around.

All the TC transgenics were already in... what was it called? 'Not Manticore', she hoped. So, they were all in this not-Manticore-but-sorta- Manticore facility as they had evacuated TC progressively in small groups; Max's being the last.

She was also apprehensive about her meeting with Zack. Would he really be himself again? Or would he be Manticore? And what if this was all a trap because he was still Manticore deep down inside? She had seen what Psy-Ops had done to some of her brothers and sisters; Brin, Jace, Billie (that was a whole other story) and Zack himself. Psy-Ops reduced you to a little puppy taking and accomplishing orders and then going back to its master wagging its tail.

If Zack had been turned then they were all lost. She didn't trust Lydecker, well she trusted him to a certain extent and that extent was letting them out of TC and then finding them a home sweet home.

Well, at least, if Zack still had uncontrollable terminate-Eyes-Only pulses, Logan wasn't around. Lydecker had taken him to what he called a secure hospital, secured from White and his nasty Familiars.

But oh my god, Logan, hospital; hospital, Lydecker; Lydecker, Zack. If Zack had been compromised, all Deck had to do was to send him to Logan's hospital and then... How stupid could she be to have fallen into such a trap! It was so obvious! Something was up!

"Calm down Maxie" Lou said, "You're as hyperactive as an EM pulse"

They were just entering the new facility after walking several hours.

"What?" Max said distracted, "Me? I'm perfectly calm" she said not really convincing.

"Whatever" Lou sighed, "You'll see once we're inside... Zack wasn't lying and I don't think he's alone either"

"What d'you mean?" Max asked more anxious.

"I'm not sure... but you'll see" Lou said casually.

Look at her! Not a care in the world, not a single problem or responsibility! She was one weird little chick, indeed. She didn't look a bit worried, well not by anything else other than her hair.

She was constantly passing her available hand through it while her other hand held the bag she had been carrying around ever since she had first arrived in TC. One of the first groups going through the tunnel had been in charge of carrying personal belongings and of leaving them at the end of the tunnel so that each proprietor could get back what was his.

Max knew Lou was special among the X5s, whether that was intended or not, she didn't know but Lou was... different. She sensed things better and with much more precision than any of them.

They were all capable of detecting fear, anxiety or weird behavior by smelling, detecting sweat or scanning pupils but that was it. With Lou, it was like she simply knew. Just like she had done with Zack back in TC; and she didn't even have the guy in front of her, no, she had done it through a computer screen! That meant that distance was certainly not a problem using her high sensory ability.

Lou would just frown for a few seconds; her whole body would stiffen for a very brief instant and then she would relax and most of the time, ordinaries wouldn't even notice it. Max supposed she could trust Lou though she didn't know how her little sister's ability had developed through the years; Max didn't know whether or not Lou had been wrong or if she had ever mistaken a feeling for another, therefore Max still kept her fears in the back of her mind.

The building looked like any other: big grey ugly thing surrounded by perimeter fence that seemed unpleasantly familiar. They walked in, using the main gate that was open and arrived to the front door.

Mole was waiting for them, sitting in the sun, smoking a cigar Lydecker had given him.

"Well it's about time he groaned, "What happened, d'you stop for picnic or what?"

No one even bothered responding. If even the sun didn't help Mole do anything but groan and be grumpy, nobody else even dared trying.

Max simply walked up to him, still very nervous but no one could've noticed except maybe Posh X5.

"Is everybody alright?" she asked.

The reptile man nodded and said:

"No losses" blowing out smoke.

"Where's Lydecker?" was Max's second question though what she was thinking came closer to 'Where's Zack?'

"Waiting for you and kiddo here" he replied nodding at Lou who simply raised an eyebrow in protest.

Mole then lead Max, Lou, Joshua and Alec into the facility and the little Zen tagged along with the two X6s.

Max wondered if it was just her imagination or if this facility really resembled Manticore. The empty halls, the echoes of their footsteps, the grey naked walls and the smell, the smell of disinfectants, like in hospitals.

Every time she turned her head, she felt memories pushing back through her head; the trainings, the experiments, the seizures, the infirmary, the gunshots... Eva, Jack... Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, Mole came to a stop.

"You three follow me" he told the X8 and the X6s, "Luck Max" he just added.

He immediately left with the three younger ones, leaving Max more nervous than ever. 'Luck Max! What the hell's that suppose to mean! Luck Max!' she inertly scoffed. Still she burst in without even knocking.

All the heads in the room turned towards her even though some of them had heard them arrive with Mole long before others. Max took a few steps forwards in order to let Alec, Joshua and Lou enter as well; but she didn't dare go any further.

Lydecker was sitting behind a desk, his desk apparently, running through papers. Zack was looking over his shoulder, his back resting against the wall. Syl was casually sitting on Lydecker's desk, Krit standing not far away. And there was this black girl with curls and green eyes. She was a bit aside of all of them, not really taking part in whatever they were doing.

For once, Max thought she could sense like Lou that it was Noah, another '09. Awkwardly enough, Noah reminded her of Original Cindy and later on that would make Max feel comfortable with her though they barely knew each other.

It all looked like a nice and normal family reunion; daddy with all his kids, but Max couldn't help but feel uneasy. There was too much untold and undone. It all seemed surreal and impossible.

She wanted to hold Syl and Krit in her arms, same for Noah and Zack but she couldn't. How much did Zack know? How much of him was really back? Would it ever be like before between them? The answer was no, it would never be like it had been because something very important had changed on Zack's part.

She couldn't hold Noah either because her sister looked Max over from head to toe with that all too familiar emotionless expression. Her entrance had like frozen whatever action had been taking place and Max had never had a harder time finding a sarcastic remark. God, what was Alec doing! But against all odds, the first one to break the silence was Lydecker.

"So, you're all here" he said, "We were just discussing the facility's inner function and its future relations with the government"

Oh oh! Had he just said the G-word? Max's thoughts focused on something other than her family. Was this really a trap?

"The government?" she repeated, "What's the government got to do with that? The government is the one that sent White to blow our ass up"

"Well, yes. The public had to think that the transgenic issue had been resolved and I believe that now they do" Lydecker shrugged.

"You mean this was all a lie?" Max asked astonished.

"Not quite. White really thinks he's accomplished his mission and so that gives us a head start" Lydecker said.

"A head start towards what?" Lou asked.

"Well first of all, there's the Familiar problem. I've been working on it these past few months-"

"Really? Found death was too boring?" Lou scoffed.

"- and there are a lot of things that don't add up. Logan might come in handy"

Great, Max thought. He doesn't want to kill Logan but to enslave and use him for some brain work for the rest of his life. What a relief!

"Wait, wait, wait" Max said, "Why are we here? I mean, why is the government helping us when as far as I can remember, all it's ever done was be a pain in my ass?"

"The whole transgenic population within Terminal City being blown up! That would've meant millions of dollars wasted!" Lydecker said, "Besides... the government might need a little transgenic help now and then... after all, it's what you're were designed to do" Lydecker said.

There it went, that was it; the whole thing was nothing but a big mouse trap and she had led them all right into it. What the government wanted was to recreate Manticore. To get all its little soldiers back...

"Stop living in the past, Lydecker! You know we'll never go back, we'll never be what you want us to be! We'll keep on fighting, plus we're too many for you, you don't stand a chance"

"Neither do any of us if we choose to live outside" a strong determined voice said loudly.

It was Zack. He had rose from the wall and stood in front of Max with all his might.

"It's only a matter of time before the Familiars find out that we've tricked them and when they do, all of us that are out there will pay for it dearly. We've got to stay put" he nearly ordered again.

Max's mouth dropped open.

Was this a new Psy-Ops experiment for re- indoctrination? Had Zack really been turned? What about the others? She desperately looked at Syl and Krit.

"He's right Maxie" Syl said with a kind smile, "We really do need all the help we can get"

"It's not all that bad-" Krit started.

'It's not all that bad... He's right' Syl and Krit's words echoed in Max's head. What was up with everybody? Couldn't they see that they were going twelve years back?

"-we won't let them do what they want of us. This is just temporary" Krit added.

Now that was more like what she was used to hearing from them. For a minute, she thought she had had Brin and three of her clones in front of her. Max frowned at Krit's statement as if demanding for more explanations.

"What the government wants for now is to prevent another scandal" Lydekcer said.

"So what? They think that people are going to shut their eyes and think we were nothing but a big nightmare?" Lou scoffed.

"A committee composed of militaries and scientists are supposed to keep an eye on our activities. This committee asks to be informed on whatever you are doing and keeps the government informed as well. For now; it only has a council power over you: as long as you stay inside the facility, you can do whatever you want" Lydecker went on.

But Max was waiting to hear the other part of the bargain. The part when they had to go back to doing the government's dirty job. From what Lydecker explained, she understood that given the rather tensed situation between both parts that end of the bargain would not be exploited right away.

Lydecker seemed to hope that they would get enough time to find out what the Familiars were up to and get rid of them once and for all. The fact that they had tried to terminate him appeared to be one of his main motivations.

Max didn't know what else to say. For the first time in very long time, she felt tired like she could sleep for at least... five hours! After all, why would she complain? Everybody was safer here then outside, that was true.

She'd just have to keep an eye on the government and they would all bail when it would get to demanding. Yeah... that's what they would do.

She glanced at Lou who immediately understood what she wanted. Lou fixed her gaze on Lydecker and frowned. The next second she was giving Max thumbs up.

It would be OK then and Max felt part of her anxiety fade away but the other part remained as her eyes tried to catch a glance at the blue ones. But Zack didn't seem to want to establish eye contact. He didn't seem to want to establish any contact at all.

"That's it then" Lydecker said, "Maybe you should all get to your respective dorms and get some rest" he added before exiting the room.

Syl and Krit then walked to Max and hugged her. She didn't linger in their arms as long as she wanted but she was glad to have them with her. It wasn't her against the whole world anymore.

They then hugged Lou and shook hands with Joshua and Alec who had remained unusually quiet during the whole conversation.

Lou came near her and whispered:

"I think he's pissed"

Max knew who she was talking about.

"Thank you for warning me. I really hadn't noticed" Max said sarcastically.  
  
Max then turned back to Zack who was still standing in the middle of the room, arms crossed and teeth clenched but before she could do anything, Noah popped up in front of her.

She held out her hand and gave Max a slight smile.

"Nice to see you Max, long time no see"

"Sure has" Max said shaking her hand, "Where you been hanging around?"

"Phoenix mostly, dropped in Seattle though before the whole situation got outta hand" Noah shrugged.

"Seen any of the others?" Max asked a little distracted.

She still had her mind on Zack.

"Yeah... hooked with Jondy and Zane not too long ago. Well, hum... gotta show you guys your new apartments, coming?" she asked Max though she knew the answer.

"I... I gotta do something first. Catch up with you later" Max smirked.

Noah then did something odd. She turned to Zack, gave him a look that Max didn't quite know how to interpret. Yet, he responded by a simple nod and that was it, they seemed to have understood each other using nothing but a look and a nod.

"Fine with me" Noah smirked "Humm, by the way, how's Logan doing?"

Max gave her sister a funny look. How did she know about Logan? Then again, anybody could've told her; Syl, Krit, Zack, Lydecker... Still why was she interested in Logan?

"He's OK I guess, he's in hospital" Max stammered, "Why?"

"No reason" Noah shrugged and left with all the others.

Max was left facing Zack and for the first time in a while, she felt like he was her CO again and like she had done something wrong, with good reasons but still done wrong. She didn't feel her brother, she felt the soldier that had given up his freedom and later on his life for her.

She sat on Lydecker's desk while Zack remained standing still.

"So? How have you been?" she finally asked as the silence was oppressing her as much as X5 599's presence.

That was a stupid question but it was a start anyway. He snorted and that announced nothing more than a bad start.

"I dunno. Maybe you could tell me since you seem to know what's best for me" he said coldly.

Oups... storm was coming and you didn't need to be Lou to sense that.

"Zack I know you're mad but I had reasons to do what I did and I-" Max started.

"Reasons to take my life away from me, reasons to drag me away from my family, from my job, from protecting all of you" he nearly yelled, "What if any of the others needed my help? Had you even thought of that?"

Motionless face gone, furious expression entering the game: storm had arrived.

"Manticore was destroyed: the others wouldn't have needed you because Deck was on their ass and I just thought that I should give you what we all deserved; a chance at a normal life. A chance of forgetting what we were, what Manticore had done to us" Max pleaded.

"Well, you didn't give me a normal life! All you did was take it away. How could you even think that you knew me so well, that you knew all about my life to do something like this? You wouldn't leave your life when I asked you to! Did I ever force you?"

No, he had never forced her but back then, she had a life; friends, job, fun, her 650 Ninja and Logan. It was true; she didn't know anything about Zack's life apart from when he came to check on her.

Could he have had a life? A life that he had actually enjoyed? Love maybe... 'Come on Max, we're talking about Zack here!' she told herself. 'He would never let anybody through his protective wall'.

"Giving you up was the hardest thing I ever did but I had to" Max said "because you would've killed Logan, because of Manticore!" she screamed out. "So you didn't just do it for me Max! You did it for Miracle Boy and for yourself!"

"I did it for several reasons and no matter how hard it was; I'd do it again if I had to!"

"You just don't get it Max; it's not about what you thought was right, it's about how it turned out... and it was wrong!" Zack said coldly.

Max remained standing in front of him, her mouth open.

"I... I..." she stammered.

"I sacrificed everything for you, for all of you! And when the first opportunity comes along, you sacrifice me! But that's not even a problem, I can live with that. The problem is you making other people I care about suffer. That, I don't tolerate" he said calming down.

An awkward silence fell between them as Max digested Zack's last words: 'people I care about'.

"Who Zack? Who is it?" Max asked softly finally seeing the end of the storm.

-------------------

"As X5s, we don't get a whole dorm to ourselves" Noah explained, "We have to split in groups of two and we have our own room. X6s, 7s and 8s have dorms down here; our rooms are on the first floor" she added walking up the stairs, "The whole medical junk's on the left side of the facility and transhumans have rooms and dorms available too. There's plenty of room for new comers. I suppose many are still outside spread all around the country, I think we'll execute recovery missions to bring them back here. There also is a training field right near the woods, a swimming pool at first underground level, a garage with something like eight cars and several motorcycles. Kitchen's behind the cafeteria; that was on your left when you came in and well, that's about it for now" she said coming to a stop in front of a door opening to a two bunk room.

Lou walked inside and mumbled something about some people's bad taste for decoration though there was hardly any decoration at all. She threw her bag on one of the bunks, asked for the bathroom, took some clean clothes, looking forward to a nice shower.

Syl and Krit had given Joshua a personal visit, leaving Alec and Lou to Noah. Lou having gone showering, that left just Alec and her.

Alec took a look around and then turned back to her with his trade mark smile on.

"Wouldn't it be more equitable if we split into mixed groups, you know a guy and a girl?" he asked.

"Lou is a girl. And do whatever you feel like, nobody'll mind" she said calmly though perfectly knowing where he was going.

She was heading for the stairs and Alec was following her along.

"Really? Then, could I ask you to share my room?" he asked.

"You could always try" she shrugged walking down the stairs.

"Would you share my room?" he asked.

"No"

"Why's that?"

"Because I'm already sharing my room with someone else" Noah said.

"Let me guess, your sister, the blonde one" Alec said.

"Maybe, maybe not" Noah shrugged.

"Was that a maybe, maybe not you'll share a room with me?" Alec asked.

"I already answered that question and the answer came closer to plain no" Noah said casually.

"Hard to get" Alec smirked, "I love that in a woman" and he let her walk away.

-------------------

"Nothing? What do you mean there's nothing?" Ames White yelled at the young medical recruit in front of him.

The fire in TC had extinguished itself and so Ames White had sent a couple of teams in to collect what was left of the transgenics. A formality to him but a necessity to both the FBI and the Familiars.

"Sir, we've been looking all day. There was quite a big number of them, I'm sure we'd've found something by now and-"

"But you saw them! You saw the headlines and the picture of 452 and the other and you saw the bombs and the fire!"

Poor little Ames was beside himself making the young scientist's teeth shake and connect out of fear.

"But it's impossible! They can't have just disappeared!" special agent in charge White screamed.

"It seems so... Sir"

"You better fine me a logical explanation for this between now and tomorrow, McMahon, or else" Ames White said lifting a threatening finger towards the inexperienced young man.

"It's McMillan... Sir"

-------------------

**(Click to read Part Two)**


	3. Back in Manticore? Part Two

**Happily Ever After...  
**

**Chapter II (Part 2): Back in Manticore?**

The facility had formerly been a government lab creating new chemical or electromagnetic arms in case of another terrorist attack. The main aim of the government being to hide the transgenics to prevent another scandal, it was the perfect hide out. Max had the hand it to Lydecker.

After submitting the whole transgenic population to medical tests, Lydecker suggested to keep up with the trainings, lighter trainings but still trainings anyway. Max could only agree. She knew Familiars where out there, seeking nothing but destroying them once and for all. She had fought them and she knew their strength and it had been important enough for her to take them seriously.

"Split into groups of two and fight" Lydecker ordered.

Physical training... the first training of that morning. Lydecker ordered and it was funny seeing him enjoying the whole thing and pretending they were back in Manticore when 'his soldiers' as well as himself perfectly knew that he no longer had any sort of power over them.

Still the whole X5 group obeyed, split into teams of two and started fighting each other as Lydecker passed around the room in a superior supervising manner.

"Oh come on" Alec said, "Don't tell me you've never thought about it"

He was in a fighting stance, fists raised and facing Noah's green eyes with which not a single flicker allowed others to know what was going on in her head. She tried punching him but he eluded.

"I know you want to and honestly, I can't blame you!" he smirked; "You wouldn't be the first" he shrugged letting his guard down.

Noah kept focus on the task at hand and therefore, immediately noticed the failure in her adversary's defense. She went for it and in a punch and a kick, Alec was on the ground. Noah looked down on him with the same emotionless expression that was personally reserved for him... and Lydecker.

The fight was over and she had won. At least she thought so. Still on the gymnasia's floor, Alec gave her quick yet efficient kick behind the knee and Noah feel on top of him.

"Don't fight Noah, it's no use" he said, his mouth really close to her's.

Noah pushed herself back up thanks to her arms.

"What can I say Alec? You're just so irresistible; I can't help myself from..." Noah carefully placed her knee between his spread legs "... getting all over you" she added bringing her knee back up.

Alec let out a groan while Noah got to her feet, perfectly sure that he would stay where he was this time: on the floor, his hands on his groin and his face disfigured by a horrible contraction.

Noah looked at him for a second, long enough to mark this frame in her permanent memory. Alec really was a good looking guy and she came to the conclusion that the way he looked at that very minute was exactly the way she liked him best.

-------------------

Max walked towards the huge secretary, whose butt seemed to be falling over each side of the chair, and said in a confident yet pleasant tone:

"Good evening, Christina Jackson. I'm here to see my husband. Dylan Jackson"

The woman regretfully dragged herself away from the pack of cookies she was making her mission to devour in less then 7.6 seconds, looked from Max to her screen and then through her papers, before finally grumbling:

"Fifth floor. Observation. Room 645"

"Thank you" Max replied politely though she didn't think the secretary deserved it.

She wasn't here to attract attention. She wasn't even supposed to be here at all. She had forced Lydecker to let her out of the facility for a few hours and lend her a car to go and see Logan.

Logan was receiving transgenic blood daily and was doing much better, though it had only been a few days since he had entered the hospital. His doctor worked for Lydekcer and he was the one covering up for Logan.

Max softly knocked on the door, both impatient and apprehensive as she hadn't seen Logan since the night they had escaped from TC. She really hoped he was doing better and she thought that if he was then she could truly start to have a little more trust in Deck.

"So, how's my dear husband doing? Recovering from that horrible pneumonia?"

"Well, I'm doing a whole lot better now," said Logan pushing on his elbow in order to be in a sitting position.

"How are you?" she asked more seriously.

"Well, I'm doing so good, I actually have to pretend so people won't get suspicious. The truth is I'm bored"

"Yeah, well don't be in such a hurry. I got an idea that Deck's cooped up a lot of work for you" Max smiled tenderly.

"Can't wait to get back and fight the good fight. So, how's it going?"

Max hesitated for a moment then said:

"Surprisingly... good"

"Really?"

"It's nice to know that we're all in this together. It makes it all... possible and overcomeable"

"How's Lou?"

"I think she's lonely. I'm trying the best I can to make her feel at ease but you know, she's one of the few of us to have a real home and I think she misses it"

"And how's it going with Zack?"

"Now there's another slippery ground..." Max started to relate.

-------------------

"So, how's it going with Alec?" Syl asked, a malicious smirk on her lips.

"Can't find a way to get rid of him" Noah said rolling her eyes and taking a sip from her glass of orange juice.

It was 8:30 am and the girls were having breakfast in the cafeteria and casually chatting. They were perfectly aware of being late for training but neither of them seemed to bother; sure Deck or Zack would yell but the girls would get over it. Anyway, they would arrive way before little Lou who couldn't seem to get enough sleep.

"-kinda like Krit. It's not that they need the sleep so much, it's just that they like it and have gotten used to having so much" Syl explained.

"Yeah, well, Krit also takes an incredible amount of showers, doesn't he?"

"He just might become Posh X5 number 2 if he doesn't watch out" Syl laughed, "And I don't even think he'd mind"

Noah started laughing but she suddenly stopped and gazed at the air right above Syl's left shoulder.

"What? What is it?" Syl frowned, turning her head around to see what Noah was staring at, "If it's Zack that's come to get us, I'll leave you to sort this-"

She was interrupted by Noah's giggling.

"What is it now? Would you mind sharing?" Syl asked turning back to face her.

"I've just had an idea concerning my Alec problem"

"Does it involve Zack?"

"No" Noah shook her head, "He's already got enough on his mind"

"Then what? Spit it out already" Syl said seething with impatience.

"I'm gonna give Alec exactly what he wants" Noah said with a grim smile.

-------------------

Hands in his pockets, Alec was whistling in the facility's corridors. Fresh out of shower, a new shirt on (not that he intended to keep it on that was just the decency part in him) Alec had skipped last training to get ready and was now climbing up the stairs that lead to the X5's rooms.

He reached the last step and lowered his whistling to a low humming. No need for the whole X5 population to know that he wasn't heading back to his room tonight. He bypassed the door of his room without even looking at it and headed straight for the sixth door on the left.

He gently turned the door's handle and as Noah had said it would be, it wasn't locked. He stepped in and noticed the warm atmosphere and the dim light.

A smile twitched the corners of his lips as he thought of the night that was ahead. 'This my friend, will be a night to remember' Alec told himself. And, it was bound to be.

The room was empty, once again as Noah had said it would and the two bunks had been pushed together. So Alec decided to make himself comfy and make sure he wouldn't be loosing any time with superficial details when the lady arrived, such as taking clothes off. Alec lost shirt, trousers, underpants and socks in the next three seconds and decided to lie down on the bed and wait for his partner in tonight's assignment.

That hadn't been too hard when he looked at it. In fact, it had been a lot easier then he thought. Well, of course the fact that Noah was supposed to go into heat tonight had speed things up a little. Alec just hoped that she wouldn't fall face to face with another male before she reached her room. But Syl was supposed to make sure such an incident was not going to take place and Alec had faith in the good big sister that Syl was.

Wearing nothing but the locket around his neck, Alec was humming, head resting on his crossed arms and lying on the bed. He was so caught up in his fantasies that he was startled when the door's handle gave a slight turn.

He straightened up to resting on his elbows, his trade mark charming smile ready for action as well as other parts of his body.

However, the next second, the smile had faded away and Alec's eyes widened in horror as he recognized the figure that stepped in.

"Alec? What the hell-?" Soaked black hair, water dripping down his naked chest and back, carefully following the curves of his mocha too-good-to-be-made-in-mother-nature body, Krit was standing on the threshold of his room, a white towel (beautifully contrasting with his tanned skin) wrapped around his lower parts, just as horrified as Alec; and that meant something.

"What are you doing here?" Alec said going for his pants.

"What am I doing here? What d'you mean man? This is my room!" Krit bellowed.

"What?" Alec said "Look, there must be some kind of mistake-"

"Well, there better be. Cuz I don't ever wanna step into my room again to find you playing _femme fatale_ on my bed!"

"No wait. It's not what it looks like... I was... See, I was supposed to... This isn't Noah's room, is it?" Alec asked as he finally realized what was really going on.

"Noah? Of course not. I share this room with Syl! And I've got two things to tell you; A) If you don't get outta here really fast, I'm going to have to kick your play boy's ass and not in the way you'd want me to-"

"I'm not gay, man" Alec said defensively.

"-and B) if you go out there looking for Noah, Zack's gonna be the one that's gonna kick your play boy's ass not in the way you'd want it. Either way, doesn't look too good for you man" Krit said.

"Zack? What's he gotta do with this?"

"Zack is involved in everything that concerns Noah. If you still don't get it, then head for the third room on your right and there, you'll find Noah in her room, the one that's she's sharing with Zack!"

"Oh" was all Alec got the time to say before the door closed on him.

As he was there in the hallway, his clothes tossed in his hands and still wearing nothing but the locket around his neck, Alec heard muffled giggles behind him.

He slowly turned around, dreading the sight that would lie before him. Max, Lou, Syl and Noah were laughing their asses off. Things couldn't possibly get worse.

"Sorry" Syl said, "Krit tends to get a little cranky when finding naked boys on his bed"

Alec gave them a forced smile and said:

"Repressed homosexual tensions, that's what it is" Alec said in a small attempt to keep his dignity.

The laughs got louder and Alec was pretty sure that they would soon attract the whole facility's attention. After all, its inhabitants did all have highly sensitive hearing.

So, Alec shrugged and told himself he might as well do it all the way and not disappoint the audience. He suddenly dropped the clothes with which he was trying to hide what he could of his body.

As the girls' laughs turned into screams of surprise, he walked calmly and slowly, head high, back to his room as if he had just received a pre-pulse Grammy Award. His dignity was preserved. At least he considered it so.

-------------------

"I just can't believe you guys did this for me!" the little girl in Lou coming out as she squealed in delight in front of the computer.

"Completely untraceable for a limited number of minutes-"Max started.

"Which you should under no circumstances go beyond" Lydecker reminded.

"-you've got visual. This is your direct link to your parents" Max said.

"Can I call them, like, now?" Lou asked hyper excited.

"Well, I suppose" Lydecker said.

Lou held herself back so as not to hug Lydecker but she couldn't do so with Max.

She jumped into her big sister's arms. Max being a little taller, Lou had to fully rise to hug her properly, therefore revealing a bit of her abdomen's mocha skin. Then, she went for the chair and was about to dial when-

"Lou, wait a second! Max, take a look at that!" Lydecker said taken aback and pointing at Lou's stomach.

"What?" Lou frowned looking at Lydecker's finger pointing at her "I'll probably be loosing that little belly with that horrible food you feed us and those exhaustive training exercises" Lou said putting a protective arm around her waist, "so what's the big-"

"That's not what I'm talking about" Lydecker said, "The markings..."

"What?" Max said shoving away Lou's arm and lifting her sister's sweater in order to see for herself.

And there they were, just as precise as the ones on her own body... Runes.

Lou looked down at her belly and said:

"These were not here this morning" Then, she sighed heavily. "Dad always gets so freaked out when new ones appear after others faded. Lucky for me he isn't here"

"Your dad always what? You mean these aren't the first?" Max asked still staring at the runes.

"I wish" Lou rolled her eyes "But what's all the big fuss about anyway? I bet other's got them too. I always thought they were some kinda directions for use, you know... Been wondering why they didn't just write it in plain English though. Guess, it wasn't _in_ enough for Manticore, huh?"

"There's only one other person that has those, Lou" Deck spoke slowly.

"Really? Who?"

"Me" Max responded.

-------------------

This was getting stranger by the minute. He had supervised the whole creation of those kids and he had no idea where all those runes where coming from or what they meant.

Lydecker rose up as he heard a knock on the door.

"Joshua? Come in, come in" he said as Joshua was shyly staying on the threshold "How can I help you?"

"Joshua thinks you should look for father" the dog man said timidly sitting in the chair across Lydecker's desk.

"You think I should look for who?"

"Sandeman, our father" Joshua explained?

"Sandeman, why should I look for him?"

"Has all answers about the coming, familiars and little fellas Max and Lou. Father knows everything" he repeated with a little more confidence this time.

Lydecker laid back in his chair. Joshua was right. It always came back to Sandeman. There was only one problem:

"Do you think he is still alive? They might have tried to kill him too"

"They tried to kill you and you're alive. Father's stronger, like White because was part of them. Father has to be alive"

A determined face appeared on the dog man's face; Joshua was sending Lydecker on the track of the most important person of his life.

After all, if Joshua had decided to join 'upstairs people' in the first place, it was to find his Father.

------------------- 

**End of Chapter II**

(think about reviewing!!)


	4. Patience, patience

**Title:** Happily Ever After...

**Author's name:** Roxy

**Author's email:** roxymusic38hotmail.com

**Beta Reader:** Rose

**Beta's email:** arwenqis.net

**Category:** Action, Humor and Romance. (M/L)

**Rating:** PG

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee. I don't own Dark Angel, though Noah and Lou do belong to me. I am making no money out of this.

**Summary:** This is my hit at a 3rd season. Max and the others are trapped in TC, surrounded by White's men. A new little sister comes along. Deck reappears (isn't he just our favorite bad guy?). X5s reunion. More Familiars and how to deal with them.

**Previous Chapter:** The trannies are getting used to leaving all together with their own up and down. Trainings have started again, though less tyrannical than they used to be. Lydecker has allowed Lou to stay in contact with her English parents. Ames White is trying to keep from the public the fact that the transgenics had long fled TC when the air raids started. Joshua's thinks Lydecker should find Sandeman.

**Feedback:** _tabitha5:_ Wow, you were quick reading and reviewing... I love Alec because, as an author you never feel really bad about putting his character into embarrassing situations, I think that's just so much something he could do... Thanks.  
  
_BlackRose9:_ Glad you like this version better. Beta babe (AKA Rose) will be glad to know that as well lol!  
  
_M/L Only:_ Yeah, well, what can I say? Zack's my man, right? God, his 'Watch- me-go-as-I-save-the-whole-world-on-my-own attitude is soo hot... getting carried away here. You shouldn't get me talking about him, you'll regret it lol!  
  
_Big Edna:_ Ok, so I came across a comment you made in darkangelfic on LJ about a fic you liked better than the books, taking place right after FN, and you were asking the author to update chapter III... you weren't more precise than this and I'm not pretentious enough to believe that you were talking about my fic... which is why I didn't answer your comment... but just in case you were talking about the fic below, well, you'll be happy to know that here is chapter 3 and that I've just sent chapter 4 to beta-babe... Review next time, helps me know who my readers are-no matter how few they are ;D

-------------------

**Happily Ever After...  
**  
**Chapter III: Patience, patience...**

She was late. Then again, she _always_ was. It had to be part of the whole snooty brat character. Max had long ago understood that there was no compromising with Lou. You could never force her to do something; neither could you ever forbid her anything. She was immature and stubborn and you could be sure that whenever you said 'no', she would go and do it just to prove to you that you were wrong.

Max checked her watch for the zillionth time and sadly came to the conclusion that time hadn't stopped or even slowed down and she cursed her baby sister for it. She was parked outside the facility's main entrance, waiting for Lou to go and see Logan. He absolutely had to see the runes on her sister's body in order to make sure they were the same as the ones on Max's.

Max had suggested bringing him photos but the poor guy was dying to interact with other people that weren't wearing a white medical uniforms. Max was at least sure that after Lou's visit, Logan would reconsider the whole 'interacting with people' idea.

You don't know what you've got till it's gone, right? And Max couldn't agree more. She wished Logan was here to help her deal with this whole situation, to calm her down when Zack would be cold and distant, when Lou would get out of control, when Alec would make yet another smartass remark, when Mole just wouldn't hear anything and when Lydecker would just be ... alive.

It was nice living all together but sometimes, Max would only dream of one thing: finding her own room empty and silent. Very paradoxical when you looked at it: all day long she felt lonesome.

Max had always been a solitary girl but now she had come to realize that she was alone, that by placing herself at the head of the transgenic cause, she had condemned herself to complete solitude. They were all like a bunch of kids, not really aware of the dangers outside. Most of them had never come face to face with Ames White or with a Familiar, most of them just had no idea.

Zack seemed to understand sometimes. Then again, Max thought she might be mistaking his cold and silent attitude for an adult and understanding one. If Zack had decided to claim her responsible for taking his life away for the rest of their existence, then he was just as much of a child as the others were.

Max knew she was being unfair to him, but she couldn't help it. The only thing that ever seemed to matter to Zack were the 09s and trainings. It was like nothing had changed for him, like the Familiars didn't exist, like the government wasn't waiting for them to put a single toe out of line to...

She was thinking too much.

She was going to see Logan and it would all be OK then. He would take on his calming and confident tone and make her believe that everything would be all right, that they would all see it through. But that was just never going to happen if Lou didn't show up in the next two seconds!!

Where was the damn girl???! That drew the line between being fashionably late to make an entrance and purposely being a pain in the ass!

Max stepped out of the car, slammed the facility's door open, rushed up the stairs and nearly blew the door to Lou's room off of its hinges.

"I was just coming to warn you" Noah said standing in front of her "I think you should either postpone or go ahead without her. She can always meet you there" Noah stepped aside so that Max could see what was going on.

Her eyes widened and she immediately felt guilty for all the things her soldier's mind had imagined doing to her baby sister if she could lay her hands on her.

Lou was lying on the bed, under the sheets and shaking uncontrollably. Max recognized the seizure symptoms from the times she had them. Lucky for her, her last trip to Manticore had cured her of those. Poor Lou had never been back to Manticore and therefore could not have benefited from seizure treatment.

"Have you called a doctor?" Max asked as she knew there were several doctors in residence in the facility, not that it made her feel any safer.

"Was there a minute ago" a voice said, voice belonging to someone Max hadn't noticed yet.

It was Alec. What was he doing here? Still following Noah around? You'd thought that a certain event involving Krit and no clothes would have been enough.

"Has she had some tryptophan?" Max asked again.

"Yep. Nearly a whole bottle. Doesn't seem to be having any effects though" Alec went on.

"Apparently, she's used to having intense seizures like you used to have, like me and like Jack" Noah said her voice becoming a whisper as she spoke the name of their deceased brother.

"The doctor said there's nothing he can do while she's still seizing" Alec explained, "He'll take care of it once it's stopped"

"Max?" a weak voice rose from the bed. Max came closer and kneeled near it, finally seeing Lou's head.

"Hey you" she said softly all her impatience from in the car forgotten.

"Tell Logan I'm sorry he won't have the pleasure of being in my company" Lou said in a jerky voice.

Ah, posh X5 was still there and somehow, it came as a relief to Max.

"I'm sure he'll be really disappointed. Tell you what? You can hook up with us later in the day when you feel better. This won't take more than a couple of hours, right?" Max smiled indulgently.

"Better not" Lou said trying to sound threatening but failing, "cuz I've got a life"

"A thrilling and busy one as we all know" Max said pushing away Lou's curls with her hand, "Lots of people to grant with your time, yes we all know that too"

Lou was like a sick little child that all three of them were trying really hard to make feel better. Not that she really needed it; in two hours she would be driving them crazy all over again probably about how her top was all wrinkled. It was just something that they felt like they had to do.

"So I can still meet you guys later?" Lou asked hopefully.

How could you ever say no to that? Actually, it didn't really matter what Max answered, Lou would've tagged along anyway but still, posh X5 could pride herself in being a master at manipulating.

-------------------

He was on his bed, legs crossed, back arched over some paper he was scribbling on, forehead frowned as he seemed in deep concentration. Yet, not in deep concentration enough for him not to hear her step into the room.

Not that Noah had tried to enter the room silently, the bed not facing the entrance, she was sure she could've done so without him noticing it. She placed that on her virtual list of 'things to do before the Familiar blow our asses off the face of the earth' right beneath 'getting rid of Alec' which she had already achieved with the Krit/Alec/bedroom thing and 'eating a strawberry pie all to myself' which was so far the hardest thing on the list.

Strawberries were so hard to find these days! And she was so bad at baking, not that she had actually tried but she was sure she'd be bad at it if she ever did.

"How's Lou?" he grunted without even lifting his head up.

Noah sighed inertly: now that was the nice macho welcome she had expected him to give her but still sometimes a girl hopes that...

"I left her with Alec"

"Alec?" Zack lifted both his brow and his head from his papers.

Jeez, when you have to talk about a guy for your boyfriend to even look at you, you start asking yourselves questions and reconsidering the Alecian theory of 'lots of repressed homosexual tendencies!

Noah smiled: thank god she didn't always speak her mind. Zack probably wouldn't have appreciated that last thought.

"Yep" she said letting herself fall heavily to the bed next to him.

Zack just emitted a low groan. Translation: he did not think much of the whole idea but had better things to do then care about the sex lives of his brothers and sisters.

Noah knew this was the time to take matters into her own hands... both metaphorically and literally. So, she placed herself behind him and let her hands go around his waist and beneath his shirt, allowing her fingers to run along Zack's stomach and chest.

Then, she softly placed her chin on his shoulder and whispered to his ear:

"What's up?"

Zack didn't refuse the touch but neither did he seem to really notice it. He was still wearing the constipated look, deeply focused on his papers.

"Well, this is all rather boring but these calendars need to be done so"

"You very well know that it's _not_ what I'm talking about"

"And _what_ are you talking about?" Zack feigned not to understand, still lost in his papers.

"I'm talking about the whole situation. You know, Manticore all back together and having to face _certain people_ again"

"Oh, that situation"

"Yeah, that situation" Noah said taking the papers away and out of Zack's reach.

"Hey" he said not knowing whether he wanted to be pissed off or amused, "Some people are trying to work here"

"Yeah, well some people are trying to have a conversation here" she said disregarding the papers by dropping them to the floor.

Zack was a real soldier and it was hard to catch his attention if it wasn't a matter of life and death. But hopefully, if there was one thing Noah was good at, it was attracting attention.

"What d'you wanna know?" he sighed knowing that she could reveal herself just as stubborn as Lou.

"I wanna know what you're thinking" Noah said perfectly serious "I know it can't be easy for you to have to face Max. I know she's taken this sorta leader position, does it bother you?"

"No" Zack said honestly, "I don't mind because I feel her and the others still regard me as their CO"

"I don't" Noah smirked like a proud little girl.

"Yeah, well you're my annoying little brat, aren't you? So that doesn't really count, right?" he said smiling back.

"And what about having to face Max?" Noah asked becoming serious again.

"I..." Zack hesitated for a moment "I still blame her for what happened"

"Yeah, well somehow I guessed that. And I think she did too" Noah said sarcastically.

"She doesn't seem the least bit sorry about it"

"Have you tried putting yourself in her position? What if you had been her and she had been the dangerous psycho killer from Manticore?" Noah asked.

"And you had been Logan?" Zack asked rising from the bed.

Noah silently nodded letting him time to imagine the whole thing while he paced the room, his hands running though his blonde hair. When he didn't respond she broke the silence and said:

"You would've done the same, wouldn't you?"

"Probably" he grumbled the way he always did when she was right.

"I know you need to blame somebody for this, but don't blame Max, blame Manticore" Noah said rising from the bed as well.

"It's funny hearing you defend Max. Before we got here you held her responsible for what had happened just as much I did" he snorted.

"Yeah, well, can't blame me, can you? I had been jealous of the damn girl for like six years!" she laughed then becoming serious again "but I got to know her here and she's a good person"

"So you're not jealous anymore?" Zack asked teasing her.

"Oh, puh-leese, that is all way behind me. I know I've got nothing to be afraid of!" she said feinting self confidence, "Right?" she added not looking so sure anymore.

Zack laughed at her attitude. Maybe Noah was good at guessing what he was thinking but he had known the main reason behind the whole conversation.

He put one arm around her neck and the other around her waist and dragged her body closer to his. Firmly pressing her against him in his macho you're-mine-and-I'm-not- letting-you-go way, he looked at her straight in the eye, blue meeting green, as he said:

"You know I love you"

This kind of declaration didn't come along very often from Zack so Noah knew this was the moment to forget the let-me-make-you-eat-my-dust-to-show- you-I-only-belong-to-myself look.

Sure she knew he loved her, but a girl isn't against some kind of reminder once in a while. Especially when your boyfriend's previous twelve year crush reappears in his life all of the sudden.

Noah had expected coming across Max sooner or later. She just hadn't expected to live with her and risk reopening Zack's old wound.

"You don't have to worry about Max. I promise" he said like he was reading her thoughts.

-------------------

She was her bouncing Duracell self again but she just hated it when it happened, when she was so powerless and completely vulnerable. She wasn't designed to be this way and she was going to make sure that when she got back to the facility the doctors would make it so she'd never be again. Bye- bye seizures!

Syl had dropped her off, no need for some militaries part of the whole government-monitoring plan to know that 2 X5s had been out of the facility for no valuable reasons in their eyes.

Syl had, probably following Zack's orders, once again asked if Lou wanted her to come with her but posh X5 had just rolled her eyes and claimed that she could manage to find Logan and Max all by herself.

She was a 17 year old genetically engineered soldier not some foolish and carefree kid that was about to blow their cover. Ok, maybe she was a little foolish and a little carefree but she most certainly did not consider herself as a kid!

So Syl had driven back home and Lou had entered the little hospital in which she was now, and she was chewing her cherry flavor gum when she walked up the counter of the humongous lady whose hands disappeared into a bag of chips.

"Excuse me" Lou said politely, managing to hide her disgust, "I'm here to see my brother-in-law. Dylan Jackson"

"I'm on a break" the monstrous secretary grunted, she almost sounded like Mole which made Lou smirked inertly.

"I perfectly understand that Mam, but I just want to have his room number" Lou insisted still showing an impressive deal of calm and self control.

"Well, if I gave it to you, that wouldn't be a break, now would it kiddo?"

Ok, she called you 'kiddo'. Still no need to make a scene, you can get through this, Lou inhaled heavily.

"I know that you must have had the most exhausting day " Lou went on with a tense smile, "therefore the sooner you give me the number, the sooner I'll be out of your hair"

The lady leaned further upon the desk and Lou hoped that it would not support her impressive weight and that the lady would then crash to the floor. However, and against all odds, it held on.

The secretary gave her a grim smile, revealing two decayed teeth to Lou's great displeasure.

"Now listen here kiddo. You're gonna go sit next to the gentleman over there and in 20 minutes, that's the end of my break, you'll have your room number"

"Oh come on!" Lou's grew angry and her feet stomped the floor in impatience "It's just a room number, just give it to me! Pleeeeeeeease!"

"No" the lady said, taking an extreme morbid pleasure in pronouncing these two letters and pointing at a vacant seat next to the suited man.

Lou stomped her feet in frustration some more before resigning herself and turning her back on the secretary. All that, not without pouting and crossing her arms on her chest.

Then, she let herself fall heavily onto the metallic chair next to the man. She put her head back and closed her eyes: it was her turn to take an extreme morbid pleasure in imagining herself bursting that horrible pack of grease with nothing more than her pinky and maybe a pair of tweezers... Oh yeah, go with the tweezers and maybe a-

"Some pig she is" a low male voice next to her jolted her out of her thoughts.

"Straight up, she might actually loose some weight if she ever happens to get her hand out of that bag and check something on her computer" Lou said bitterly looking at the man in a suit.

He snorted and in cold yet sophisticated kind of way said:

"I think she's way beyond that, I'm thinking of a mercy killing"

"Not too much of a gentleman now are you?" asked Lou smirking.

"Who ever said I was?"

"Cookie Monster over there. You're in luck, I think she just might fancy you" Lou winked.

"Have mercy" the man rolled his eyes.

Lou couldn't repress a laugh while the man in front of her snorted once again. Then she asked in a casual way:

"Who are you here for?"

-------------------

Why would a father deliberately go through so much trouble just to make his son's life a living hell?

Not that Sandeman had ever intended for his son to undo his beautiful transgenic work, Ames White very well knew that. But still, sometimes he wondered what had ever gotten into his father for him to turn his back on thousands of years of cult. Ames White had an idea of course, but he was aware of only knowing half of what had happened in his father's mind.

Sure, there had been the CJ problem... First of all, his father never should've run an experiment to find out whether or not his oldest son would survive the test.

Second of all, when Sandeman did find out, he shouldn't have tried to protect CJ and turn his back on them, turn his back on Marcus! Well, they had taught him well. They hadn't killed him but the fact of living with such a burden: seeing his son being turned against him and seeing his wife... Ames White didn't want to think about his mother.

It was like Wendy, if only she had tried to understand, if only... then maybe he would've been allowed to love her back.

Ames White shook his head: this was no time to get all emotional over some old family tragedy. He too was living with a burden and though he had changed his last name, he still carried the shame his father had brought upon the family. Ray would've helped him redeem the family name in the eyes of the whole cult and the eyes of Marcus.

Ray would've understood if that scumbag 452 hadn't taken him away. White was sure deep down inside that his son had survived, that he was out there and that finding 452 would lead him to Ray.

That's why he had to concentrate on the transgenics. They had escaped TC, fine. But he had forced them into broad daylight and that was far from being an advantage to them. They had more enemies now than allies and nobody would ever hide them for a very long time.

Ames White had men working 24/7 on finding the new transgenic hideout. He also had other teams looking for transgenics that where still out in the world and who hadn't had the honor of crossing his path. With that new thermal detector, it would make things a whole lot easier to spot X series.

But Ames White not only wanted to get rid of the transgenic filth, he considered any human that helped them just as subhuman. He was also going to take care of the little friends they had. And for that, he had to start by the most important one: Eyes Only AKA Logan Cale.

Ames White knew that the human had been in TC with no possible way of getting out for days. He now justifiably suspected that the human was in hospital and White had therefore used all of his contacts to find Cale.

They had scanned all the hospitals in and around 5 states but the FBI way hadn't turned out very fruitful. However, the Familiar way had been most productive as always.

A Familiar doctor that happened to work in a little hospital in a State neighboring that of Washington (was keeping a close eye on a certain Dr Cummings that had just been transferred).

Dr Cummings' report said that he hadn't worked in a hospital for the last ten years; he had been working for the army all this time. Why this sudden interest in civilians the Familiar couldn't help but ask himself? Interesting question indeed.

So, the Familiar had kept a close eye on Dr Cummings' patient and noticed something odd: a man corresponding to Logan Cale's description suffering from pneumonia but was actually suffering from nothing more than boredom only two days after his arrival... That might have been what sparked the Familiar's curiosity.

The name of the 'pneumonia patient' was Dylan Jackson but he had been transferred from the ER service to the Observation service a few days earlier. The Familiar hadn't been able to give White his room number, but White didn't care, he could take it from there.

Moreover, he was here incognito. He hadn't obtained this information by legal ways; therefore it was better if he didn't burst into the hospital with several TAC teams and his FBI badge.

Plus the government wouldn't really appreciate his way of handling things. He already was walking on thin ice ever since the Jam Pony hostage situation, now with the TC incident, things just couldn't get worse. Because if they ever did, he would loose his job and would be of no more use to the Conclave.

His own pride couldn't bare another humiliation. He had had enough and learned to his expense, that massive and expensive deployments never revealed themselves as good strategies concerning transgenics.

White was going to get Logan Cale with nothing more than his gun and his superhuman skills. He would then torture him, Cale would spill the beans concerning the whereabouts of his little friends, White would kill him and then he would send the Familiars after the whole furry population.

White sighed in relief and contentment: now that sounded like a nice calm and well thought out plan. He could even manage to get his son back in the whole process.

The only obstacle between him and restoring the family's image was not an inconsequent one. No, it sure wasn't! A secretary weighing probably more than 'Free Willy' all by herself was not to be taken lightly.

Ames White wasn't a very patient man and yet there he was next to some teenage girl with a punkass mouth (not that he considered it a bad thing) waiting for the secretary to give him Dylan Jackson's room number.

He thought he might as well phone his Familiar-doctor and ask him to give him Cale's room number but he remembered a saying that went: Revenge is a dish better served cold.

"Who are you here for?"

"I have a friend that's coming out today. I'm here to give him a hand" Ames White answered Lou's previous question.

Suddenly, his phone rang and he hoped for Otto's sake that A) it better be worth disturbing him right before he caught Eyes Only and B) that it was good news. And actually it filled both categories; Otto's job was safe for now.

"Excuse me" he politely told Lou as he got up and walked to the end of the hall on their right.

Lou couldn't see his face anymore as he had his back to her but she could easily eavesdrop if she wanted to. Not that it was a very polite thing to do, but it was in her capacity to do so.

There was definitely something weird about this guy. When one of your friend is getting out the hospital, one would assume that you had visited them earlier and that you would therefore know their room number. And one would also assume you would be happy about it. Lou looked up and saw 'Cookie Monster' opening her extraordinary big mouth to swallow a slice of chocolate cake.

Right, Lou reminded herself, then again, there are some things that can just put you in a bad mood no matter how content you may be feeling.

But still, Lou was good at guessing other people's game and this guy was... weird. First of all he seemed to have a lot on his mind and the permanent frown on his forehead was there to prove it.

He was a good looking guy and his suit said that he wasn't living on a low paid job. What was up with him? There was just something emanating from him, like he was... danger. Like he was dangerous for her.

Lou shook her head. Maybe she was just a little disturbed because of the seizures she had had this morning, she was probably getting it all wrong.

How could anyone be a danger to her? She could cause more damage to humans than they could to her. Plus, she didn't even know the guy.

That was it. She didn't know him and yet she knew that she shouldn't. It's like fire, you get close to it and you feel that if you touch it, it's going to burn you. You don't have to really experience it to have that certainty.

That was the feeling she was getting about that guy and somehow-

"There you are" Max said coming out of an elevator.

Lou got up, forgetting her burning thoughts about the handsome man in a suit and met her sister half way.

"I've just called Zack and he told me that Syl had dropped you off 20 minutes ago. What have you been doing?"

As they passed the monstrous secretary on their way to the elevator, Lou turned around very loudly:

"I'm sorry Christina but SOMEBODY just wouldn't give the number of the room"

When the elevator's door closed, Lou sighed and said:

"How can you stand coming here so often to see... _that_!"

"I come here to see Logan. And please tell me you haven't made a scene" Max frowned.

"No. You can tell Zack that I've been a nice little girl" Lou paused for a few seconds and then wondered out loud:

"I wonder where she gets all those pre-pulse junk food in a third world country..."

-------------------

"You've located them?" White repeated what Otto had just told him on the other line.

"How many are they?" White paused, "Three. That's excellent. Now don't establish contact until I'm back"

Another pause as Otto speaks.

"That will be when I have decided to. Don't worry, they're probably looking for other members of their filthy siblings, they won't be going anywhere"

"I won't be long" he added before hanging up.

Now that was the kind of phone call that he appreciated! Worthy and positive. Looked like the wheel was turning and that he was the one in luck now!

What he needed was to get Cale fast so that he could get back to the office and develop a plan. He had no time to loose.

He turned around, barely noticing that the teenage girl that had been sitting next to him was gone, and determinedly walked up to the counter.

"I want Dylan Jackson's room number. And I want it _now_" he said drawing out his FBI badge.

So much for the incognito approach! Cookie Monster nearly choked on her banana flavor sucker, she didn't even look at her screen and immediately stammered.

"Room 645. Fifth floor. Observation"

White paused in his anger.

"How can you tell me this without even looking at your screen? I take it you don't know all of your patient's room numbers by heart?"

"N.. no Sir. Just the ones that have a lot of visits. Sir"

"Explain" he ordered coldly.

"The kid that was sitting with you. She was here to see him too. She left with his wife, Sir" the secretary didn't dare leave a detail out.

"His wife?" White mumbled searching his pockets, "Did she look like this?" he asked showing a picture of Max.

Cookie Monster just nodded.

What was wrong with this guy? Was he really an FBI agent or was he checking on his wife? That would explain why he had a picture of Christina Jackson in his wallet.

"452" he muttered under his breath as he headed for the elevator.

-------------------

"Would you _please_ stand still and stop moving Lou?" Logan begged for the third time.

"I'm sorry. It's just... I'm not feeling very comfortable"

Lou was holding her shirt up, so that Logan could look at the runes that had appeared on her stomach the previous day. Logan was taking this very seriously and Max was in a corner of the small hospital room, leaning against the wall. Logan gave Lou an awkward look.

"No" Lou sighed, "That's not it. I'm feeling uneasy in this hospital, this building. It's just, the sooner we get outta here the better"

"And I thought I was the one with social problems" Logan scoffed.

"People are weird in this country, you know. First there's that unbearable secretary, I mean, d'you think she actually manages to walk or does she just sleep on her chair and ask for people to bring her food in the morning?"

"Yes, and we all know that only secretaries can be absolutely unbearable" Logan smirked.

Lou just winced while Max did nothing but snort.

"And then there's this guy that was just as weird with his whole brooding complex. I know some girls go for it, but still... And they are, like, the only two humans I've been in contact with, beside you and Lydecker! Though I wonder if Lydecker can be qualified as human you know... he has this sorta bad-guy-from-video-game perseverance. I mean what was up with the whole resurrection thing? Anyway, Cookie Monster and Angel wannabe are like the only two persons I've talked with ever since I've arrived. Certainly doesn't make you wanna know the rest of the country, I tell you!"

"I used to be a fan of Angel myself" Logan said.

Lou and Max both raised their brows to give him the off-topic look that made Logan feel really old for a second.

He shrugged and went on:

"What was wrong with the guy downstairs?"

"Mystery man has a lot on his mind and he wasn't in a good mood either. And I started to get these burning thoughts about him and-"

"You have the heat cycle thing too, right?" Logan asked worriedly taking his hands away from her.

"That's not what I meant" Lou sighed again as Max remained unusually silent.

Was Logan obsessed or what? Not enough sex can do that to a guy... And Lou started explaining the whole you-didn't-have-to-touch-fire-to-know-that-it- was-dangerous idea when-

"Logan!" Max suddenly burst out.

Logan startled, gave her a questioning look.

"Remember that thing that happened at Jam Pony about me knowing the Familiars were coming? Well it's happening right now!"

"I told you I hated this building" Lou pouted.

-------------------

The elevator was just taking too long to get down so Ames White had come to the conclusion that maybe revenge was a meal better served cold but that Logan was only starters.

The stairs then become the best alternative. He was furious! Furious against them and furious against himself for having one of them sitting right beside him and not noticing! Punkass mouth kid! He would show her when he got his hand on her.

Two X series and a human. Maybe one TAC team wouldn't have been a luxury after all? But he no longer had time for this. If 452 had come down to get the brat then maybe she had seen him and that they were already gone! No this couldn't be! He had to get Cale no matter what!

He arrived on the fifth floor and checked the numbers of the rooms around him to know in which direction he was heading. 641... 642... 643...

He loathed them all! 645!

He drew out his gun and with a well placed kick, blew the door off of its hinges.

The small hospital room was quiet and still so he carefully stepped in which was exactly what Max had hoped for.

Right over Ames White's head, hanging to the ceiling like a spider, Max fell on him at the moment he lowered his gun.

While White was still on the floor, stunned and surprised, Max grabbed the first thing that came to her hand, in this case, a metallic chair and smashed it on White's back.

She had long ago learned not to give him a single opportunity to get up and respond.

However, White was lying between her and the exit. Max decided to go round his inanimate body to reach the door.

Suddenly, White reached out his hand and grabbed her ankle. As he pushed himself onto his knees with his other hand, he kicked her behind the knees; a kick Max could never have eluded without a jump she couldn't manage since he was holding onto her ankle.

She fell to the floor beside him but before she could even react he was on his feet madly kicking her, setting all his rage loose on her. Max blocked as much as she could but answered with a single kick aimed at White's chest that propelled him against the opposite wall.

Lou popped out of nowhere on the threshold and yanked Max to her feet.

"Lou? What are you doing here? I told you to stay with Logan! What if White's men get to him!" Max pleaded.

"Relax Maxie" Lou said, "Logan's fine, I left him in the car"

White stunned once again, back against the wall, legs spread, thought that this was, strategically speaking, the best moment to get up and draw out his gun and did so.

Max gave Lou a look that more or less meant 'ready?' Lou nodded and two seconds later, White found himself completely immobilized.

Max was behind him and was nearly strangling him with her right arm locked on his throat. Lou on the other hand, had grabbed the gun and was now having a great time its proprietor with it.

When Max felt that White could no longer stand on his feet, she nodded at Lou who unloaded the gun before throwing it aside and they both made for the door.

On the threshold, Max turned around, looked at White and said with a cocky smirk on her lips:

"By the way, may I introduce to you Lou, my baby sister"

Then both girls rushed down the stairs, slowing down as they heard security guards coming their way. But who would ever have suspected two gorgeous looking young women with angelic smiles?

-------------------

The facility turned out to be exactly what Logan had pictured. Grey, ugly and the smell reminded him of the one that lingered in the hospital he had just left. Wouldn't be much of a change now would it?

In the car, Max had warned the facility that White had tracked Logan down and that they were bringing him in this very minute.

This phone call explained why most transgenics (at least all those that knew Logan personally) were gathered in the entrance hall as Lou pushed the door of the facility open. It pretty much resembled a welcome back party.

Lydecker was the first to shake his hand and Logan knew that only him could've achieved the miracle of magically making them disappear from under White's nose and found another place for them to stay thanks to his various contacts.

Joshua showed up next; his dog-face beaming as he drew Logan onto an unexpected bear hug. Mole stood against the wall, smoking his cigar. He merely looked at Logan and made a small nod towards him and it seemed to Logan as unexpected as Joshua's welcoming.

He shook hands with Alec, Krit, Syl, Gem and her daughter next. Logan then fell upon the massive figure that was Zack. They looked into each others' eyes for a second and that was enough.

They had to put their differences aside (the main one being the fact that one had tried to kill the other) because they were both needed here, in different ways. Logan stuck out his hand and Zack shook it grumbling something that sounded like a 'thank you'.

Logan couldn't keep his eyebrows from reaching his spiked up hair. A thank you from Zack? Logan wasn't even sure why the X5 was thanking him but somehow he didn't think it would be wise to ask for an explanation in front of so many people. In fact, he didn't think it would be wise to ask for an explanation at all!

Somebody next to Zack cleared their throat and Logan took his eyes away from the former CO to the small frail female figure on his left.

He immediately recognized the curly hair though it had grown longer and the caramel skin, a shade tanner than Max's. Noah's green eyes were staring back at him while a smirk wandered on her full lips.

"Noah" Logan said in a tone that neither betrayed surprise nor discontentment but just a light sound of pleasance.

"Logan" Logan now understood why Zack had thanked him.

The reason was right there, next to them, still smiling. And Noah looked miles away from the furious female rogue she had been when they had first met. It seemed so long ago.

"So, you _did_ find him" Logan told Noah ignoring Max's questioning looks.

It was a long story he hadn't mentioned to her because Noah had asked him not to. But Max should've guessed by now that Zack hadn't recovered his full memory without the help of another X5, unless of course she believed that Lydecker was the one that found Zack in the first place.

"Pretty much looks like it" Noah said "Thanks to you"

Noah had paid him a late night visit months ago looking for Zack and he had given her the address of the Eyes Only contact where she could find him.

What had convinced him to do so? To go against Max's will and to endanger himself in such a way? What was it that Noah had said? Oh yeah...

_"Love? Tell me Logan, would you let Max down out of love, knowing that she still needs you?" _

Maybe it was that determination in Noah's eyes or maybe because he, himself wished that the only thing standing between him and toughing Max was an address. But, Logan hadn't given up then and he wouldn't be giving up now. Noah would make sure that both Max and him would show enough patience. She owed Logan that much.

-------------------

**End of the Chapter (pleeeeeease review!!!)**


	5. So Many Questions

**Title:** ...Happily Ever After

**Author's name:** Roxy

**Beta Reader:** Rose

**Category:** Action, Humor and Romance. (M/L)

**Rating:** PG 13

**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee. I don't own Dark Angel, though Noah and Lou do belong to me. I am making no money out of this. Summary: This is my hit at a 3rd season. Max and the others are trapped in TC, surrounded by White's men. A new little sister comes along. Deck reappears (isn't he just our favorite bad guy?). X5s reunion. More Familiars and how to deal with them.

**Previous Chapter:** Lou gets to meet Ames White as herself, Max and Logan get a close call at Logan's hospital. Eyes Only is now safe and sound (and healthy, except for the virus!!) in the facility with all the others.

**Feedback:** So this chapter took a lot longer to update than I first thought it would... blame it on the gods of computer crash. Chapter five has been sent already. I'll try and update once a month at least. On the whole, I can say that I don't have that many readers but at least those I have are faithful, thanks guys, it helps a lot.

_M/L Only:_ A bit of everyone in this chapter... I love it when there are plenty of X5s. You like the developments? Well in the next chapter, things are going to get slightly more complicated and twisted... I'm also throwing in this chapter clues concerning pairings... I shall say no more lol!

_Tabitha5:_ Thanks for the compliment about my characterization. It's hard when you have a lot of characters to all make them look real... but I've been portraying Zack for a while so I got a very clear image of how I see him. Lou? I hate her but she's just so much fun to write lol! And Alec... well your wishes might come true... once again, I shall say no more...

_BlackRose:_ Glad you liked the previous chapter, hope you'll enjoy this one as well... The coming chapter, chapter 5 that is, is one of my favorite I think ;-) but you're gonna have to wait a bit to give me your advice on that.

-------------------

**...Happily Ever After**

**Chapter IV: So Many Questions...**

She hoped they were all right, she really did. When she and Zane had heard about the air raids taking place in Terminal City, they had been on their way there. They were thinking that maybe they could be used as external help but they had been too late to be of _any_ help.

Jondy had hooked up with Zane a little after Noah and she had left Santa Fe. She and Zane had both been really worried back then because Zack had stopped checking in on them, which was most unlike him.

They knew something had gone wrong; they just had no idea how _many _things had gone wrong. Zane and Noah were the only X5s Jondy had been in contact with, beside Zack-but that didn't really count as contact-since the escape.

Noah had found Jondy and Jondy had come across Zane by pure chance when they both had been living in LA a few years back. Gifted burglars tend to meet each other in the restricted circle of luxury crime.

They had both come to Seattle a few weeks ago and while wondering around Terminal City they had made the most unexpected discovery yet... Brin.

It wasn't old Brin but then again neither was it Manticore. She was jumpy, suspicious and seemed traumatized. She was physically in perfect health, but mentally, there was no saying what Manticore had done to her and what it had cost her to find her way back to herself.

Still, that made three of them now and Jondy thought that it could only be a good thing in their search for the others. Yesterday morning, she had picked up a daily paper which headlines read: 'Transgenics: still a threat'

There were rumors that the teams sent by the government hadn't found any bodies in TC and that transgenics had all escaped via sewers. Jondy knew better than to just believe rumors, but what she needed right now was something that could keep her hoping... even though hope was for losers, it was all she, Zane and Brin had left right now.

A man had established contact with them two days ago via some scumbag paid to deliver letters to them. The three of them lived in a small squat and it was surprising that somebody had found out where they were hiding out!

So they had changed squat of course, but the same scumbag had turned up with another letter yet; no escape possible... but a single question remained: who was that guy? They didn't think they had ever met the mysterious man but he seemed to know them pretty well. He knew a lot about the 09s.

He wrote that he didn't mean them any harm, that he had helped Max and the others out of TC and that he could lead them to the others. Jondy even thought that it could Lydecker? The letters were written in a way that made the reader want to trust their author.

But Jondy, Zane and Brin knew that friends didn't fall out of the sky like that and that they had more enemies than actual allies. Still, if the guy had wanted to do them any harm, wouldn't he have done so already? Unless of course, he thought that three X5s were too much for him. In his last letter, he had given them a place to meet him at night.

Jondy knew this was a bad idea, you shouldn't accept to meet strange people you know nothing about, especially when they know a lot about you. You should run away, that's what a real soldier would do.

But Jondy and the others had run most of their short lives and Jondy was getting tired of it. It was time to face her old demon: Lydecker and if he could lead them to the others, so much the better.  
  
Jondy didn't really know what to think but she had come to the conclusion that she was willing to try anything in her attempt to find the others and she had decided to go and meet Lydecker - if it was him. Zane didn't approve her decision but he wasn't going to let her go alone and Brin... well, Brin always tagged along... like the zombie she had become.

So, there they were in a dark empty alley and Jondy was starting to wonder whether this had really been a good idea.

-------------------

Life in New Manticore didn't exactly rhyme with no chores and hotel life.

That seemed to be fine with some transgenics that were only too glad to have a roof over their heads, three meals a day and clean clothes. Others felt outraged having to wake up early in the morning to go to training and follow orders.

The latter not only included 'posh X5' but also all the 09ers minus Zack. While most transgenics had been out of Manticore for less than a year, the 09ers had been free for eleven years! That's a long enough time to make your little habits and start to get comfy in your life.

Trainings were certainly less tyrannical than they used to be but still no matter how much a soldier you were designed to be, you could hardly appreciate it when you've taken it on being lazy for over eleven years... well, that is, unless your designation is X5 599.

Zack had finished working out calendars and he, Lydecker and other X5s were taking in turns to supervise the Nomalies, X6, X7 and X8 trainings.

You never know when you'll come across Ames White and his Familiars and you want to be ready when you do. Lou, Logan and Max had found that out the previous week.

Logan was having a hard time. He was used to hanging around with transhumans now; surprisingly he was finding it harder to be with X series. You see when you think you have X5 471, Krit in front of you when you truly are talking to X5 472, Devon, things tend to get a little confusing.

Hopefully, X5 453, Sam wasn't around so that made only one untouchable girlfriend for him which was already nearly enough!

Lou had no clone either; not in the facility, not on the face of the earth. Lydecker said they hadn't cloned her for some reason. He didn't give Logan any details but Logan had come to the conclusion that Manticore scientists had identified the 'snooty' gene and decided to ban it from other specimens. That theory was fine by him!

-------------------

Piece of cake, Noah thought as she blurred between the trees.

It was nearly noon on a summer's day, X5s were training in the woods outside the facility and that just made training so much more enjoyable! The facility being located in the Mountains boarding the State of California, the weather was much warmer in this southern part (still located more at South than Seattle, anyway) of the country and Noah wasn't going to be the one to complain about it.

Today, she and Lou were the targets and the rest of the X5s were the predators. She and Lou weren't suppose to help each other, in fact, they couldn't because they had started off in opposite directions.

X5s usually chased X7s, being the fastest creatures in the facility but the latter series were in pool training and Noah wished luck to Mole and Joshua in supervising them. Try and put a bat into water!

Sweat was sticking her curls to her neck and face but she was enjoying herself, her legs could still go on for hours. She heard a noise behind her, a branch cracking and knew that she was being followed.

_Now, now, who could that be?_

She turned her head around while still blurring but didn't see anything. She was hit off her feet by a punch coming from her left.

_Now, we're talking, this is getting interesting_. Krit was standing in front of her, out of breath and just as sweaty as she was. However, it wasn't Krit, her brother, it was X5 471, the soldier.

"Well, well lookie here" Noah scoffed coldly, putting on her emotionless face.

"You're done X5 344" Krit barked his soldier face on as well "You know what betrayed you soldier?"

"What?" Noah said defiantly and getting up.

"Your coconut shower gel" he spit out coolly "Who's supplying you anyway?" he barked out.

"I have my ways" Noah shrugged.

"Betcha going out with the CO helps. I hate corruption!"

"Then, you're gonna have to do better then just tracking" she said putting herself in a fighting stance.

"I sure intend to" Krit said doing the same.

They circled each other for a few seconds, fists raised, never letting their guard down, never letting a smile twitch the corners of their lips though what they felt most like doing was burst into laughs at this whole soldier act. Krit was about to attack when-

"Calling All Units. Return to base" Lydecker's voice resounded through their individual transmitters "I repeat: all units return to HQ"

"Oh come on Deck, we're just starting to have fun" Noah complained in her transmitter, stumping her foot in the earth in a very Lou kind of way.

"This is no time for fun Noah, get your asses back here. We've gotta a situation"

Noah frowned and Krit said:

"Well, he seems as bright as a sunbeam"

"A sunbeam?" Noah scoffed at her brother's talking.

"It's an expression..." Krit stammered uneasy "I... I took it from Syl"

"Whatever" Noah smirked "Let's get back soldier boy. I'll race you" she winked him.

She disappeared into the trees, leaving her brother alone with an incredulous expression.

-------------------

God she hated being back to all this! Being back to training! It reminded her of when she had been a kid...

What had they been thinking placing her in an X5 unit when some of them were 4 years older then her? She could barely talk and yet she was expected to accomplish the same prowess as the others.  
  
Lou had been the second target of this morning's training and she had been caught... by Alec. He had popped out of nowhere and in two seconds flat, she had ended on the ground and him on top. She didn't remember Ben being so fast! Nor as strong for that matter! What was up with him, did he share gene's with Noah and Zack or what?!

Lou had left the training field after what she considered her lame failure and hadn't heard Lydecker's call. Lou knew, as she was now lying alone in her room, that some X5s had come after her because they had been too lazy to go after Noah.

Noah was the fastest and that was no secret; she had always been. She could probably win a race against an X7!

Lou hated it now just like she had hated it then! She was never as fast as Noah, nor as strong as Zack, nor as brilliant as Tinga, nor as good a contortionist as Brin, nor had as much endurance as Krit. She was just the youngest but that didn't make her special at all.

God, she hated Lydecker more than the others did for making her go through this when he just should've placed her in an X6 unit with kids her own age. Instead he had chosen to make her feel low and expendable when she truly wasn't.

He had made her feel like she wasn't good enough and having low self esteem had never helped anyone in life now had it? Awkward feeling to be experiencing especially when you're as high up the food chain as Lou was, genetically speaking.

Lou remembered Lydecker using the same technique on Jack except that he really considered Jack as expendable.

Lou closed her eyes to stop the tears forming behind her eyes. She tried not to think about Jack but her mind kept throwing flashes of him at her. He looked so tall to her; they all did back when she was five. They were all better, all special.

She hated Lydecker and she hated herself. It was all her fault, she just wasn't good enough! She was the one to blame for all this, it was her idea. She had led them here, in this dark and stinking rat hole! She hated it, she hated herself! She just couldn't bare the fact that Zane and Brin were going to pay for her mistakes! She was the one that had led them to White!

_Wow! To White?_

Lou hadn't led anyone to White. What the hell was going on?

She had started thinking about Jack and then it had all gotten so intense. Zane and Brin? She hadn't seen them since the escape. Why was she thinking about them now? Had she done something to jeopardize their safety? How could she? She didn't even know where they were.

But maybe somebody else does, Lou told herself. It was possible that while thinking about her sibs, she had sort of gotten her feelings mixed with one of them. Now the ten thousand dollar question was: who?

-------------------

"Max!" Lou said bursting in Lydecker's office, "We gotta situation! I think Jondy, Brin and Zane are in trouble and-" Lou stopped dead as she noticed how crowded Lydecker's office was.

Logan and Zack were there, as well as Noah, Alec, Syl and Krit.

"We know" Max drawled.

"Oh... and you're all playing let's-not-move-and-let-our-sibs-die because..." Lou asked recovering her normal cocky mood.

"White has them and he wants to make a trade" Lydecker said.

"Really?" Lou said faking an interest, "Did he post you a date reminder? Or was it on the note slipped in the flowers he sent you?" she added annoyed because nobody felt like explaining.

"He did send a message" Lydekcer said.

Lou waved her hands dismissively to her sides, signaling that she was waiting for a more detailed explanation. What was up with them? Was their mind frozen or what?

"To make it short, let's just say that the privilege of cable hacking is not reserved to Eyes Only" Logan said.

"Oh" Lou nodded, "And what does White want?"

"Max"

"Oh" Lou paused, "That might come as a bit of a problem"

"How did he get to them anyway?" Krit asked.

"We'll ask them when we get them back" Zack said firmly.

"Ok... A plan seems like a good start. Any ... um... suggestions?" Lou said trying to stimulate brain work.

"Yeah" Max said.

They all looked up at her, dreading though perfectly knowing what she was about to say.

"We're making the trade" she said firmly.

"OK... Any other suggestions?" Lou asked hopefully.

"That's out of the question" Logan responded to Max.

"That's not for you to decide" Max replied.

"Cut it out!" Noah nearly screamed, "We're not sacrificing anybody anymore!"

An awkward silence filled the room. They couldn't sacrifice Max, not only because she was their sister but also because, from the little Logan had managed to translate from the runes on her body, she was the only one that could stop the Familiars.

Max knew that but she didn't regard it as a problem. She looked up at Lou and said calmly:

"Maybe that's why there are two of us... One's for back up"

Lou lost her cocky annoyed expression and she looked absolutely horrified at what her sister had just suggested.

-------------------

"452's gotta be quaking in her combat boots this very minute" Ames White snickered.

The meeting point was JC Bridge, 7 o'clock. He checked his watch and it said quarter to seven. His men were posted on the west side of the bridge, coming from Seattle.

"Uh... Sir?" Otto muttered from behind him.

"Yes Otto?" White said patiently lowering his binoculars.

"We're supposed to put an end to the transgenic threat, right? Then why aren't we kil- getting rid of the three we already have. I mean one against three. It just doesn't seem like we're winning Sir"

"In the long run, we are Otto" White said, "452 is at the head of the transgenics cause and if we take her, they'll be like a body without a head" he grimly smiled.

Otto nodded in agreement and White went back to scrutinizing the horizon with his binoculars. A black car was approaching; it parked on the east side of the river.

Logan was first to step out of the car, followed by Lydecker, then Lou and Max. All four of them stood on the east side of the bridge, eyeing White's armed men on the west side. White had obviously decided to go back to massive and expensive deployments.

"Nice to see you Mr. Cale" White spoke through his megaphone, "I believe I missed you last time"

"Sir? What are you talking about?" Otto whispered uneasily.

White plainly ignored him and went on:

"And Colonel Lydecker. Looks like we missed you too"

Otto wisely decided to let this one slip. It wasn't the first time his boss spoke of things that he had no idea.

"How do we know you're not going to shoot us once you've got Max?" Lydecker yelled so that his voice carried out to the other side of the bridge.

"You have my word" White said with a grim smile that made Lydecker think that his word was not worth more than Joshua's excrements.

"Boy do we feel so much safer now" Lou muttered to herself.

"Enough talking. Let's proceed. I haven't got all day" White said impatiently.

"Yeah, yeah, we know: lots of people to track down and kill yadda yadda" Lou whispered once more.

White waved at his men. And out of three different cars, handcuffed and surrounded by four agents each, came Jondy, Zane and Brin. However, only three agents led them to the middle of the bridge.

Lou led Max and there, at exactly 8 o'clock, the trade was made: one for three.

-------------------

The three captive X5s now handcuffsfree were proceeding to reach the east side of the bridge with Lou. Max was facing one of White's agents, her fists held straight in front of her so that he could handcuff her.

But before he could do so, she raised both her fists directly at his face and broke his nose. He groaned in protest and before the two other agents on either side of him could draw out their tasers, Max had punched one with her left fist and kicked the other with her right leg.

White's men on the west side, started shooting and Max used the three agents in front of her as human shields before jumping in the river.

However, Lou and the three other X5s hadn't reached the east side yet and the shooting did nothing to accelerate their progress.

In fact, things were looking rather bad for them. Logan and Lydecker placed themselves behind their car, drew out their guns and also started shooting. But bullets were also coming from behind them. Zack, Noah, Alec, Syl and Krit had arrived in a second car and had taken it upon themselves to start shooting at White's men to allow Lou and the three hostages to get back.

That was basically the plan they had come up with in Lydecker's office. And the plan wasn't really working. In fact, Lou thought, the plan sucked.

"Lou's not gonna make it" Noah yelled over the noise made by the firing guns.

Lou was having a hard time avoiding bullets. She was having a hard time because not only was she taking care of herself, she was also looking out for the other three.

It didn't look like White had invited her siblings to stay in his 5 star hotel room. Zane was limping, Jondy was holding her arm at a funny angle and blood kept coming out of Brin's arcade, blinding her.

Lou pushed Brin as a bullet was coming right at her but when she turned around she realized that another one had been aimed at her. It was too close to even try anything. Lou wondered if Noah would've been able to avoid it... maybe.

The weirdest thing happened just then. She felt herself lifted up in the air and next thing she knew, she was in the icy cold waters of the Columbia River.

-------------------

Zack and Noah were still shooting like mad. There weren't that many agents left. Most of them were either dead or falling back. White looked as pissed off as ever.

Zane, Brin and Jondy are going to make it, Noah told herself. But that was without counting White's anger in the whole equation.

White wasn't human, he was better and his vision was just as good as the Xs'. So far, he had spent his energy yelling strategic orders to his men but that was enough! He drew out his gun and pressed the trigger twice. And both times he touched his target.

Seconds later, on the other side of the bridge, Lydecker dropped his gun and Logan had to support him for him not to fall on to the ground.

"Brin!" Noah yelled.

She had almost reached the other side when she collapsed. Brin was on the ground and Jondy was making every effort possible to lift her up with one arm and drag her behind the car.

"Get the wounded in the second car and get all them back to the facility" Zack yelled, "Hurry! Alec ate a bullet too!"

-------------------

Lou was being dragged away by the current. At first, the cold had cut her breath, not that she would've been breathing under water, but the cold had also slowed down her reactions.

She first let herself sink to the bottom till she opened her eyes and saw Alec surrounded by a pool of red. It was blood! She swam to him and helped him reach the surface.

"You're hurt!" she said after gasping for air.

"Thank you, really I hadn't noticed!" Alec said sarcastically.

"Will you just shut up?! We gotta reach the shore"

Thankfully, she didn't feel his weight in the water but Lou knew that once on earth, that would come as a problem if the others didn't find them fast.

The bullet had hit Alec in the arm. Lou was slowly progressing, swimming with one arm and holding him up with the other.

When they reached solid rock, Lou got up but Alec remained on his knees.

"Is it bad?" she asked him.

"Well, the bullet's still in and it's bleeding like mad. But I supposed it could've been worse: you would've taken it right in the chest" he said trying to keep his humor so as to not to make her worry.

This reminded Lou of the last thoughts she had had before he had pushed her in the river: she wasn't good enough, she hadn't been fast enough!

"Wow, I guess you can be proud of yourself for saving the poor little defenseless kid!"

_Well, at least, she's not worried about me_, Alec told himself and prided himself in being a born liar.

Lou turned her back on him and started walking away, her feet stamping the ground at every step.

She was tired, she was wet from head to toe, her clothes were sticking to her body, not that they hadn't been when dry, but it just wasn't the same! All she wanted to do was; go home, take a warm shower and put on clean, dry clothes and eat. She was hungry but not hungry for the horrible food they fed her at the facility. She wondered if she still had enough cookies, those nice ones that Mum-

"Hey Lou!" Alec called after her, jolting her out of her thoughts.

"What?" she said angrily turning around; her long dark curls in her face.

He tried standing up but his legs didn't seem to feel like supporting his weight and he immediately fell back on his knees.

"While doing your spoiled brat one woman show, could you help me back to the car? I _did_ save your life" he reminded her.

Lou rolled her eyes, walked back to him and yanked him back to his feet, putting in it a little more strength then required.

She slipped one arm around his waist while the other was firmly holding Alec's valid arm around her neck.

"Be careful, will you? I'm kinda fragile you know, because of that hole in my arm. So don't press too hard" he faked as he knew it would annoy her.

"I am not pressing at all! You are such a baby! Why don't you shut up and help me out a bit?"

"No thank you. I believe I've done my share. You know, doing my good action of the day and taking a bullet" he smirked.

_This is too easy!_

"Will you cut it out?" she nearly yelled.

She let go of him out of anger and the little balance Alec had acquired let go of him as well. He fell but she caught him before his knees hit the ground, putting her hands on both his shoulders. He winced at the pain spreading in his arm as she did so.

But then, he stopped all whining and she stopped all complaining. They just stared at each other, surprised as they realized the closeness of their bodies. Feeling both uneasy and yet not daring to move apart, both of them considering the other as something else than a pain in the ass for the very first time. Would 'Posh X5' have found her match in 'Goody sociopath X5'? Lou had never noticed that Alec's eyes held green, she had never really looked at them in fact and they also were-

"What have you two been up to? I could hear you yelling from where I was" Max popped out of nowhere.

Her dark hair formed long rattails, her shirt was a shade darker than it had been when Lou had last seen her and it was also stickier: Max was soaked from head to toe as well.

Caught by surprise, Lou immediately let go off Alec and he hit the ground with his back. He groaned for an instant but Max helped him back up.

"What are you two doing anyway?" Max asked them.

"Um.. we... um... he... can't keep his balance"

"Yeah... that's right, the balance. Having a hard time because of the bullet" he pointed at his arm.

"Yeah I saw that, but that wasn't the plan. You guys aren't supposed to be here. I was the only one suppose to be freezing my ass out here!"

Lou and Alec both looked at each other, finally understanding Max's previous question about what the two of them were doing here.

"Never mind" Max said, "We need to find the others"

As an answer to Max's request, a black car with tainted windows arrived.

"Wow, let me try! We need Lydecker to stop being such a killer joy" Lou paused before adding "and eventually two billion dollars"

Max smirked: this is all over, she thought. Zack was driving and Lydecker was in the passenger's side.

"Get in! We can't stay here!" Lydecker hurried them.

"So much for my wish" Lou sighed, "Maybe it only works with you, maybe you- "

Lou interrupted herself as Max opened the back door and what the two of them saw struck them like lightning.

"Hurry! Get in! We gotta get her back to the facility" Noah said.

Her caramel cheeks were covered in red and so were her clothes; a thick viscous kind of red that even stained the backseats' black leather. Brin was lying, her head on Noah's laps.

Alec immediately hopped in the trunk dragging Lou with him while Noah and Brin squeezed with Max on the back seats. Zack immediately started the car.

"What happened?" Lou asked her voice unrecognizable under the emotion.

"White! He shot her in the back, the bastard!" Noah said fighting against tears.

One of her hand was pressed against Brin's back, vainly trying to stop the wound from bleeding. The other one meant to whip the tears form her face, only succeeded in painting her face in red.

"Lou?" a weak voice said.

It was Brin's. Noah had Brin's back and head; Max, her legs. Lou extended her neck from the trunk as much as she could to see her stranger of a sister.

"Brin?" she said shyly and hopefully.

"I just wanted to see you once"

Lou's lower lip trembled, she opened her mouth to say something but she felt overwhelmed by tears. Only later did she realize that she had been holding onto Alec's hand.

"Max?" Brin said finally.

They weren't strangers. They had a history, not a very happy one, but one nonetheless.

"I'm here Brin" Max said as if she wasn't sure her sister could see her though she was right in front of her.

Brin smiled weakly and tried to raise her hand to Max's face. Brin being too weak to do so, Max took her hand in hers and did it for her, washing her sister's bloodied hand with her silent tears.

"I'm sorry Max... for you and for Tinga" Brin said in a jerky voice.

"You don't have anything to be sorry about sis"

"You're always here to help me whether I'm willing or not" Brin said weakly.

"And I'm still going to be here" Max said firmly.

"But I won't" Brin paused for breath "Remember that time on the roof with Tinga?"

"Yeah you sure did beat my ass that time" Max's laugh sounded fake, maybe it was because of Lou's sobs in the back.

"Sure did" Brin smiled one last time.

Her hand loosely fell from Max's face and it never rose again. Tears were still wetting Brin's face but they no longer were hers. They were Noah's who was looking down upon her sister inanimate body, her face hidden behind her untamable curls, her hands on each side of Brin's head.

Zack braked when he realized it was over and it was too late. His vision was blinded by tears anyway. Lydecker remained silent but he too hadn't been ready to loose another one of his kids tonight.

-------------------

This was one of those times when she missed the Space Needle. Had she had her crazy little life back, she would have climbed up there tonight, to sit on top of the world and to look back on her afternoon with distance and maybe stop telling herself over and over that it was her fault.

She recalled Lou telling Alec when they had gotten Brin out of the car, that he should've saved Brin instead of her because Brin had deserved it a lot more than she had. Well, Max couldn't help but feeling the same way.

Brin had deserved a chance at another life now that Manticore was gone. Jondy and Zane had come home safe and sound and Alec and Lydecker's respective arms would get over it... Brin would be the only one who wouldn't.

She wouldn't because of White, but worst of all, she wouldn't because of Max.

It was White's job to be the bad guy. It was sort of like he had a license to do evil. Max didn't. She should've saved Brin. She should've seen it coming and handed herself in without causing that much trouble.

A bridge, it was too dangerous. If White had picked that particular spot it was for a reason.

"I know what you're thinking and you're wrong" Logan walked up to her and sat down as close to her as the virus allowed him too, not really enjoying the view from the top of the facility as much as she did.

"I should've handed myself in and you know that" Max voice echoed in the night.

"Are you naïve enough to believe that White would've taken you and let us go without a fight?"

Max shrugged. No, White certainly wouldn't have.

"The only one to blame is Ames White"

"How come it doesn't feel right then?"

"Because you're putting too many responsibilities on yourself. You're not responsible of other people's actions Max"

"No but I'm responsible for all the transgenics"

"No you're not" Logan said, "You can't possibly be. Even your extraordinary capacities don't allow you to be that"

"Then what am I? What am I here for?"

"You're Max. Just Max."

"What is 'just Max'?" she said fighting the knot forming in her throat.

Logan seemed to consider that question for several seconds before answering:

"The woman I love"

Max then remembered that there were good things in this world and that when she felt that she didn't have a place in the world, she would just have to think about Logan and she would know that her place was wherever beside him was.

-------------------

Lydecker was pacing his office.

They had won and yet the facility felt as sad and sinister as if they had lost. Another one... He had lost yet another one... And he had been standing there, helpless, impotent and powerless and watched her die.

He stopped in front of his desk and engaged himself in a stare fight with the filled bottle of scotch that stood there, tempting him

He took an uneasy step closer to it, and yet another. He reached out his hand but it stopped in mid air and remained there for several seconds.

Suddenly, letting go of all that rage eating him up ever since he had stepped out of the car -- when anger had taken over sorrow and hurt --Lydecker's hand went back into motion. The filled bottle of scotch ended smashed against the wall, leaving a large yellowish trail from waist level to the floor shattered with pieces of glass.

That bottle represented everything he hated in this world and everything he hated within himself!

There were so many questions he couldn't answer.

How had White found Zane, Jondy and Brin when they looked like ordinaries?

Was it pure luck or was he able to find others as well?

Were they still safe here then?

What were the Familiars up to?

What could Max really do against the Familiars?

Was Lou really just a back up weapon against the Familiars if Max ever got injured or killed?

Those questions formed a mental circle and his mind seemed to be having the best of times throwing them over and over at him. And when, one by one he turned them down with answers such as 'I don't know', 'Maybe', 'I don't know', the questions always came back over and over again; his mind never letting him have a moment of peace.

Lydecker knew the only way to put his mind at ease was to get to Sandeman.

-------------------

**End of Chapter IV **

Now come on review now, you know you want to press that button... _so just do it!!!!_


	6. Girl Talk

**Title:** ...Happily Ever After  
  
**Author's name:** Roxy  
  
**Beta Reader:** Rose  
  
**Category:** Action, Humor and Romance. (M/L)  
  
**Rating:** PG 13  
  
**Disclaimer:** This story is based on characters and situations created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee. I don't own Dark Angel, though Noah and Lou do belong to me. I am making no money out of this.  
  
**Summary:** This is my hit at a 3rd season. Max and the others are trapped in TC, surrounded by White's men. A new little sister comes along. Deck reappears (isn't he just our favorite bad guy?). X5s reunion. More Familiars and how to deal with them.  
  
**Previous Chapter:** A hostage situation goes sideways as Ames White kills Brin. Jondy and Zane are the facility's new inhabitants and Lydecker's got his mind set on finding Sandeman.  
  
**Feedback:** This chapter was up really fast, yeah Beta Babe thought she owed it to you guys, to make up for the last one lol! Trouble is, she's now beta- reading faster than I'm writing! So there you go guys, Chapter V! and keep reading and reviewing (though I'm under the impression that you're all on vacation, well can't blame you, I'm going to Spain in a few days!!!)!And once again, I thank my wonderful Beta-Babe and all those who reviewed else where.  
  
_Mandi:_ Thank you so much for the warm review! Hope you like this chapter as much as the others. You're a purist? Then you should get along fine with _M/L Only_; try reading one of her fics! Another question, are you splitchick-something on LJ (sorry, my memory's wonky)?  
  
_BlackRose:_ Oooh, I made you cry! Oh my! I'm sorry! Lol! I was afraid Brin's death was going to be to fluffy; I mean, I wanted her to have a soldier's death but still show that she wasn't Manticore anymore! Chapter 5 is much more fun, you'll see ;-) Being in character is one the best compliment for a fanfic author, thanks.

-------------------

**...Happily Ever After  
**  
**Chapter V: Girl Talk**

"Really Mum, besides the disgusting food, the towels so rough they remind you of recycled toilet paper, the boring and tyrannical trainings, the fact that I have to get up with the sun and that I am surrounded by male freaks, really, everything's just perfect" Lou told the image of her mother on the computer, "So how's it going on the other side of the Atlantic?"

"Well here there are soft towels, kidney pies and an appointment at the beauty specialist, oh and not to mention bloody worried parents waiting for you" an English accent replied.

Lou smirked as it felt good to still have something to relate to.

"How's Dad?"

"Well, you know your father... he's always pretending that everything's all right but I can tell by his increasing number of 'bloody hell's" said her mother in a perfect imitation of her husband's low grunting voice "and his obsession with American news that he's just as worried as I am. Couldn't you at least come home for Thanksgiving and Christmas? Uncle Frederic's promised to do his goldfish imitation. He'll be very disappointed to know that you won't be apart of his audience"

"A shame I'm going to miss it" Lou said with only the slightest tone of sarcasm "How's Donald doing?"

"William's trying to teach him new tricks for when you get back. However, I take it that Donald is not really appreciating Will's initiative, seeing as how his suit turned out"

"Did Donald bite him?"

"Yes"

"Oh my god, is William ok?"

"Well... the poor man won't be able to sit for a while but he should be good as new in a few weeks... that is, if you don't mention his personal ego which seems to have suffered more than his bottom"

"Whatever got into Donald?"

"I believe the little beast's missing you too. Are you sure you can't take a break for the holidays?"

"It's not a boarding school Mom!" Lou smirked at her mother's misunderstanding of the situation.

"Perhaps, but surely this Mr. Lydecker can arrange a little-"

"Sorry to interrupt" Noah said bursting into the room "but it's been over two minutes Lou and I don't feel like getting in trouble with Deck... or with Zack for that matter"

"Oh Noah, nice to see you once again" Lou's mother said.

"Same here Mrs. Wilson" Noah nodded.

"Good bye honey and take care"

"See ya Mom and tell Donald to behave himself with William" Lou said sadly before putting an end to the transmission.

The image on the monitor disappeared and Lou let out of heavy sigh. Noah gently rubbed her baby sister's back.

"Who's Donald? Don't remember you ever mentioning him" Noah said.

"Donald's a ten year old Labrador" Lou smirked.

"Donald, huh? Would this have anything to do with a certain Mr. Donald Michael Lydecker?" Noah grinned.

"What could ever make you think such a thing?" Lou ironically asked.

"I'm sure he'd be honored to know that you named your dog after him"

"I'm sure he would" Lou said getting up.

"I can just picture you two: Donald, sit! Eyes front Donald! Go get it, Donald!" Noah said as they both exited the room laughing.

-------------------

Otto Gottlieb was sitting in his boss's poorly decorated office, dreading to have to announce him the mitigated news.

"I'm not sure last week's cable hack was a very good idea. We only gave the press more to babble on about the possible survival of the transgenics. I mean even though we pretended that the hack was being sent from a terrorist organization and that we didn't use the X5s designation but their real names..."

"Get to the point, Otto" Ames White rolled his eyes.

"I don't think many people bought that a terrorist organization had taken hostage three rich kids"

"Yes, I got that somewhere during your thrilling monologue, right before I dozed off. Surely, you haven't disturbed me to read me a bedtime story"

"No, Sir"

"Then spit it out" White said loosing patience.

"Our teams have been doing researches on this new X5 girl, Lou" Otto paused before asking a risky question "If, I may ask Sir... How did you find out her name?"

Of course, Ames White hadn't related to his men the fact that while they were putting their hands on three X5s, he had humiliated himself in a hospital. He had gone there incognito, at least at first, hoping to put his hands on Logan Cale, when he had come face to face with 452 and she had politely made presentations:

_"May I introduce to you Lou, my baby sister"_ she had said back then. The very thought of that day's humiliation was enough to make him shake out of anger.

"No, you may not ask! Now get to the point Otto, will you?" he nearly yelled.

"Well using the information you've given us that is, the fact that this Lou is in 452's inner circle and that she's her sister, we thought that since we had never seen her until then, it's probably because she hasn't been in the United States until recently"

"Keep going" Ames White said in his icy voice.

"She has to be foreign, from Europe maybe"

"Europe? Why Europe? She could be from anywhere else on the globe just the same"

"The brand on her shirt said Nike. It's public knowledge that the brand was bought after the pulse by a Spanish company which exclusively sells in Europe"

"Her shirt?" White scoffed, "I had no idea you were such an observant mind Otto"

"I was just doing my job Sir"

"Right" White snorted, "I really don't care whether you think that the scum we're chasing is pretty or not, I've seen some that would make you throw up last year's Thanksgiving's turkey, Ok? Keep going"

"We've been tracing the calls going in and out of Europe towards the west side of our country. We're focusing on secured lines, especially the ones that last about two minutes because-"

"-because it's the time required to trace a call... I know, I've also read the book. Anything else?"

"We're still working on it Sir. That does represent a lot of phone calls"

-------------------

The X5s were sitting in the cafeteria along with all the others transgenics after a long hard day of training. Max usually sat with Logan, Joshua, Alec and the 09ers that were in the facility (Lou, Noah, Zack, Syl, Krit and new comers: Jondy and Zane) and today was no exception.

"I certainly hadn't felt that exhausted in the last twelve years" Jondy yawned.

"Yeah, well, we don't get weekends off here" Krit noted, "but you'll get the hang of it after a week"

"And if Mr. Laziness over here" Syl said pointing at Krit, "tells you so, you can have full confidence, sis"

Just then Syl involuntarily launched a new fashion tend: mashed potato on the cheek. She was about to respond to Krit's attack when Lydecker came up to their table. He walked to Max and leaned closer to her.

"Permission to leave the facility for twenty four hours granted"

"Great! What d'you tell'em?" Max asked referring to the committee that was supposed to keep a close eye on them.

"I didn't really lie" Lydecker shrugged, "Recon mission which is basically what it is"

"Right, if a recon mission usually implies going to see your ex roommate to tell her that you're still alive and getting some non supplied items such as cigars and shower gels, than I guess, you may go to heaven Lydecker" Max smirked.

"Max's going out? How come I don't know about it?" Lou asked, shocked at the discovery that something interesting was finally going on and that nobody had bothered to tell her.

"Yes, Max is going out and A) it's extremely impolite to eavesdrop" Lydecker replied, "and B) the world doesn't revolve around the Wilson's adopted daughter"

"A) If you didn't want us to eavesdrop than maybe you shouldn't have given us sharp hearing and B) the Wilson's adopted daughter can't help but feel sorry to hear that and she truly hopes that the world will soon realize its dramatic mistake and she then will be glad to except its humblest apologies..." Lou said in her most condescending tone "and C) if Max's going to bring more stuff into) the facility then she's gonna need more arms than just the two she's got"

"That's why she's going with Noah" Lydecker smiled in satisfaction.

Lou glanced at Noah, frowning since this was beginning to resemble a conspiracy theory she was the victim of more and more. Noah raised her hands in sign of helplessness and mouthed 'sorry'. Lou suspiciously narrowed her eyes and attacked once again:

"Certainly but four arms – X5's or not - Lydecker really, it's nothing! Think about Mole's cigars, Joshua's dog food –

"Joshua doesn't like dog food" the dog man intervened only to be ignored by 'Posh X5'.

"-Noah's shower gels and Jondy's just told me she needed a new bathrobe-"

Lydecker glanced at a surprised Jondy who immediately recovered and nodded fervently.

"-and toys for the babies and look at Dix" she said waving at the transhuman sitting three tables away, "he looks bored, doesn't he?"

Actually Dix was laughing at something Mole had said.

"It's soo obvious, he's pretending" Lou went on "I mean, would Mole ever say something funny? Dix _obviously_ needs new equipment, look at him, he'll fall into depression! And, think about yourself, Donald, you must be wanting something too. Surely we could get it for you" she finished with her indulgent smile though completely disgusted with herself for sucking up this much.

Logan seemed to be choking he was putting so much effort in repressing his laughs. The others weren't doing much better either. Lydecker let the corners of his mouth twitch for only a second than immediately went back to his usual neutral mood.

"I'm really touched to see my welfare is troubling you so much, Lou" he said sardonically, "but I can assure you that the only thing I truly desire, is for this mission not to go sideways, which it obviously will if you leave this facility, now if you'll excuse me-"he meant to go but Lou was faster.

"Oh, pleeeeeeeeease let me go! I'm gonna die if I stay stuck in here!"

Lydecker couldn't seem to care less: not quite the desired impact.

"Ok, forget about that! It really is an emergency, I need to get certain things that the government doesn't give us!" she pleaded.

"Such as?"

"Well um... if you really wanna know... I'm all out of the cookies I brought from England and cherry flavor gums and candies and-"

Lydecker waved her off and meant to leave once again.

"Did I mention the English cookies?" she looked like a desperate begging little girl.

"I can't let you out, Lou. To the government, this is some sort of a test. They want to see how you can behave when-"

"I promise I'll be nice!" Lou went on begging, "Please, please, please, I swear I won't stray from Max and Noah. They'll always have an eye on me, right?" Lou turned around and looked for support in her sister's eyes.

Max and Noah both looked at each other and shrugged.

"See? They're willing to..."

Max and Noah both got up and Lydecker eyed them suspiciously.

"We'll take full responsibility for her actions" Max said like a brave little soldier.

"What? Are you insane?" Noah told Max.

Max elbowed her; Noah looked at Lou's pleading look, straightened up and said dully:

"Yeah, yeah, we'll take full responsibility"

"I mean honestly, Lydecker what's the worst that could happen?" Max said.

"You mean besides the three of us getting caught and/or killed by White. And since you two are the only ones capable of stopping whatever it is the Familiars are cocking up, that would also mean the end of the world. Besides that tiny detail, I really wouldn't know" Noah scoffed.

Max once again elbowed her and Noah cleared her throat before saying:

"But of course, we are disciplined and responsible soldiers and we won't let that happen"

Lydecker remained silent for a few crucial seconds during which Lou made her 'sad puppy face': pleading eyes, trembling lower lip, eyelashes beating more than usual. Even Joshua couldn't have done better.

-------------------

"Why can't have a motorcycle too? You're both getting one..." Lou asked frowning.

The previous day, she had managed to convince Lydecker with the help of her sisters, to let her go to Seattle. Surprisingly, for Lou, this morning's wake up had been a lot less difficult than usual.

To Max and Noah's expense, knowing that she was going to skip a whole day's training to see Original Cindy again and go shopping (well, as much as you could shop in a third world country) somehow made Lou even more bouncy than she normally was.

"Because you don't know how to drive" Max sighed.

"But I can learn"

"That's not the day's assignment" Noah came to Max's rescue.

This was going to be a veeeeery long day for both of them.

Max started the motorcycle and let the engine throb beneath her. She had almost forgotten how good it felt to ride and by looking at Noah's face, Max could tell that her sister was experiencing the same feeling. Only Lou seemed not to understand that certain moments are better enjoyed when being silent.

"One thing I forgot to tell you guys?" Lou asked sitting behind Max.

"What?" Max grunted.

"Don't tell Mum you let me ride on a motorcycle, she'd kill me before coming after you"

-------------------

Asha Barlow was having a hard time supervising everyone in the confined quarters that was Original Cindy's apartment. Max's bedroom was barely recognizable: signs with black or red writing defending the transgenics were all over the place. Almost all of the Jam Pony team was part of the group, others had also joined: some worshipped the transgenics and saw them as their new gods; others were simply against the idea of murdering innocent beings.

Asha placed herself in that last category. She was aware that transgenics were far from all being innocent but neither were most humans. And if there was one thing that Asha loathed, it was injustice.

The young woman had joined the organization almost as soon as it had been founded, therefore assuring them the support of the S1W.

"Asha, I need to know how many people are going to participate in the demonstration, we might not have enough signs"

A media war was taking place and Asha and the others sure intended to be part of it. They would tell their side of the story and be the transgenics' voice, replace Eyes Only until he made his great coming back. And when he did - which Asha knew that he would - their movement would assist him.

"I don't know; you'd have to ask Cindy for that. Where is she anyway? She didn't go back to Jam Pony, right?" Asha hoped Original Cindy hadn't left her alone in this.

'I've got work above my head here and- oh, no, not new members! I soo don't have the time for this right now! They'll have to go see Normal at Jam Pony', Asha told herself when she saw three young women enter the apartment.

Asha felt completely overwhelmed until she recognized one of the women: her rival in the past and her ally in today's battle.

"Max!"

"Asha?" Max said failing to hide her puzzlement and therefore not really returning Asha's welcoming tone.

"What are you doing here? You guys shouldn't be here, it's too dangerous"

"I thought I'd drop by and say hello to... Where's Cindy? And who the hell are all these people?" Max said waving at the crowd around them.

"Oh, OC hasn't told you yet. Well, it's all really recent; we don't even a name yet! It started with the rumors. You know, the ones about your survival in the air raids on TC. We didn't know what had happened and for a second we thought that it had been the end of you guys! But we should've known that you guys could beat the government at its own game! And I couldn't even reach Logan!"

Noah had no idea who the blonde girl in front of her was, neither did she understand half the things she was babbling about. She looked happy to see Max though, and that could only be a good thing, right?

"Wow, Asha, slow down" Max said puzzled, "Look, I'm sorry we couldn't get to you guys to warn you, communications just weren't safe, but that's why we're here now. These are my sisters, Noah and Lou. Girls meet Asha, she's part of the S1W. A progressive group on our side" she added when she saw her sisters' matching I-don't-know-what-the-hell-you're-talking-about-so- I'll-just-nodd-politely expressions.

"Nice to meet you" Lou and Noah said as one.

"Asha? What the hell is-" Max started.

She was interrupted by the arrival of a beautiful afro American young woman. Max beamed at her but the woman simply stayed on the threshold and her lower lip dropped with all the things she had been holding.

Max blurred across the room to rush towards Original Cindy and hugged her. OC hugged her back but didn't say anything. When she let go, she had tears in her eyes and mock-hit Max in the shoulder.

"You gotta stop doin' that to Original Cindy, boo"

"I'll try but I can't promise anything" Max smirked.

Max felt bad about letting her best friend believe that she had died once again but at the time, in the rush of getting everybody out of TC, there had been no way of contacting Cindy without White finding out as well.

However, OC had simply known that her boo couldn't have died in those air raids. The rumors had only proven her point and OC had known that Max would come along sooner or later. That didn't mean that she would have less of a shock when that time would come, though.

-------------------

"So? What's the name of your movement?" Noah asked once all four of them had left poor Asha alone in the next room to deal with the responsibilities of leadership.

"Well, we ain't got one yet. We gonna need somethin' catchy you know. Normal's proposed The Movement, but hey, that's Normal's idea of somethin' catchy"

"I can't believe Normal's joined too" Max said.

"Deliverin' a baby can set a man's priorities straight, boo"

"That and Alec I suppose" Lou snorted.

As all three girls in the room gave her a funny look she felt forced to add:

"What? Isn't that what you told me? That your boss was a, I quote, 'white republican with a stick shoved up his ass and a crush on golden boy over there' AKA Alec. Not that I understand the man anyway" she shrugged.

"Right" Noah meaningfully nodded at her baby sister.

"Care to let OC in on the word?" OC asked.

"What word? There's no word to let you in on!" Lou said defensively.

"Our little Lou doesn't exactly seem a 100% impermeable to our number one playboy's famous charm" Max said. Lou's eyes widened in shock; if Max had suspected this before, she had never mentioned it. Maybe it was the fact that she was kickin' it with her best friend that made her loosen up and talk about lighter subjects.

"You an' Alec?" OC said letting her amusement slip through.

"No!" Lou shook her head violently, "I don't know where you got that idea Maxie! Alec's just another guy overdosed with testosterone that prides himself in jumping everything that has breasts"

"Anyway, I remember a certain time, not so long ago, on the shore of let's say... the Columbia river" Noah said looking all innocent.

"What?" Lou said turning to Max, "You told her!"

"I thought there be nothin' to tell" OC told Lou, following the conversation with amusement.

"Yes, exactly. Max told Noah that nothing had happened!" Lou said crossing her arms over her chest in a this-conversation-is-over sign.

"So you upset 'cause nothin' happened between you an' pretty boy?" OC tried again.

"Yes... I mean no... I mean-"Lou stammered.

"What was it again, Maxie?" Noah feigned not to remember, "That Alec had lost? What was it?"

OC's eyes widened in horror.

"I don't even wanna hear this! How old are you gurl for-"

"-His balance, Cindy. Alec had lost his balance" Max explained.

"Oh"

"Yes, which is a perfectly valid explanation since he had just ate a bullet" Lou said.

"Alec ate a bullet? Again?" OC asked.

"Yep, and he ate a bullet for Lou" Max said grinning.

"Oh, so you ain't playin' solo girl... Guy digs you too"

"No! I mean I don't know and I don't care all right? So what? He was all over Noah till he found out she wasn't available"

"That's different" Noah said.

"How so?" Lou asked defiantly.

"The only time I enjoy Alec's company is when his lying on the ground holding his groin because I've just kicked his ass. Plus, he didn't stay with me during one of my seizures"

Lou was seething, passing through her genetically engineered mind all the possible exit doors. Why had she brought up the subject of Alec in the first place?

"I'm sure OC doesn't really care about Alec... Why don't you tell her how things are going between you and Logan?"

Bingo! If there was one thing OC wanted to know, it was how Max was doing. And 'how Max was doing' was often linked to 'how's it going with Logan?'

"Kid's right boo" OC said taking the bait "How's you' man doin'? And this virus bitch?"

Max heavily sighed and Noah gave Lou the you're-not-getting-away-so-easily look.  
  
"Well, the virus's still here but Logan's doing fine. He's driving himself crazy over the whole Familiar dealio; what's the Coming and _when'_s it coming? And how are Lou and I supposed to stop it?" Max explained.

"You and Lou?" OC raised her brow.

"I'm not the only one with the ugly messages from Sandeman all over my body"

"You too?"

"Yep, unfortunately... Maybe there are others?"

"I dunno" Noah said, "But if there are others then they should be in our unit, right? Like you two?"

"Yeah... and the ranks of our unit are emptying more and more" Max sighed, "We lost a sister last week" Max added as an explanation for OC.

The three of them counted silently, not daring to say the names of the lost ones out loud.

Thirteen escapees. Brin, Tinga were gone. That was two. Plus themselves, five. Plus those back at the facility: Zack, Jondy, Zane, Syl and Krit. Up to ten. Plus, Jace. That made eleven. Two left.

"That only leaves out Billie and Reese, right? We know where everybody else is" Lou said.

"Billie's happy, I hope" Max said musing.

Max had come across Billie back in TC. The traumatized X5 had been looking for Zack but Max hadn't asked their former CO whether or not he had seen their sister. Billie had only been the shadow of herself, that is, when she was herself.

Like Brin, Billie had been caught back by Manticore and Max feared to imagine what they had done to her back there. It had been horrible enough for Billie's mind to be completely confused and to even forget entire parts of her short existence.

"Yeah, I think she is" Noah smiled.

Max looked at her questioningly, taking seconds to understand. Of course! Noah would know; she had probably been with Zack when Billie had come for him at the ranch where he was supposed to be living a normal life.

"All Billie really needs right now is peace"

"Don't we all" Lou pouted completely unaware of the meaningful glances her sisters had been exchanging.

-------------------

"Sir" Otto said bursting into his boss's office.

"What now Otto?" White said trying to use the little patience he had.

White had decided to install quotas of patience; a certain quantity per day. However, he feared that Otto was going to use his day's quota all at once. And that wouldn't be fair for the other employees, now would it?

"Our thermal detectors have spotted three transgenics in South Market" he replied beaming.

"South Market? I take it they're X series. Did our men over there send us a visual?"

"Yes, sir" Otto said handing over to White a fax just coming out of the machine.

"Well, well, 452, your little girlfriend and another one which I believe, was there last week"

"Yes, Sir"

"I wonder if you'd be this good at identifying male subjects" White raised his brow, "Let's get going Otto"

"Are we going to attack them in broad daylight? In front of so many witnesses?" Otto asked worried.

"So many witnesses which are in danger if we don't do anything" White reminded him.

"Right" but somehow Otto didn't sound much convinced.

-------------------

The girls were, as a matter of fact, in South Market: the only place in Seattle that resembled a pre-pulse supermarket. Cindy and Max led the way while Noah and Lou tagged along.

"I think we'll go a lot faster if we split" Noah suggested.

"Yeah" Max said.

She didn't like the idea of letting Lou alone in Seattle. But then again, they only had twenty four hours and they had to consider the time they had already spent and the time it would take them to ride back to the facility. Lou didn't seem much concerned. She looked like a tourist.

"Wow, this is so _rustic_. You no longer see any of those in England"

Cindy dragged Lou away as the seller didn't seem to appreciate the fact that his selling goods were being qualified as _rustic_, though he had no clue what the word meant. Maybe it was something in Lou's condescending tone that got to him.

"Ok, Cindy, you and Lou can stay here and just play tourists" Max said, "Noah, you head for the clothes and I'll get paint for Josh, cigars for Mole and some other stuff we need"

"Works for me" Noah nodded, "See you in a jiffy"

They both headed opposite ways with empty bags, leaving Lou to OC. She really felt like a tourist, it was like buying souvenirs for the whole facility. She glanced all around her: everything was so different from what she'd known.

People were poor here, really poor and probably struggling their way through life but they looked... happy and free. There weren't cold and suspicious, although maybe some of them should be, but Lou felt a massive sense of solidarity.

It almost seemed like a family thing, well most of them were family. They were in this together, like Max and Cindy had been, and they looked like they cared - except for that one guy that didn't seem to be paying the slightest attention to the clothes he was touching and probably supposed to buy.

There also was this muscular woman would looked like she belonged to the WWF who was hanging around in the jewelry sector. Though Lou would rather have qualified that section of cheap imitation. Anyway, the women wasn't looking at the stuff she was about to buy. No, she was looking in the mirror but she wasn't even looking at her own reflection, she was looking at Lou!

Ok, now that smelled like NSA agent like a mile around. Lou gave a few quick glances around her and noticed about ten agents closing in on her.

"Get to Max and Noah and tell them we gotta bail" Lou whispered to Cindy.

Cindy stiffened and meant to turn towards Lou.

"No, don't turn around! They might not have noticed you yet"

"I ain't leaving you to go on your own" OC said, her back to Lou.

"Unless you can keep up with me, Cindy, I think this is goodbye. See ya soon. Luck with The Movement" Lou said before walking away from OC.

_Those NSA agents are so poorly trained, it's pathetic_. She reached the street and quickened her pace. They were still behind her and quickening as well. That was the confirmation she needed. She started running; the agents were after her now, no more dissimulated chase.

She turned at the corner of the street but White's men were already waiting for her: they had anticipated that. _Ok, maybe not so pathetic_.

When you can neither go back nor go forward, you go... up. The building on her left had a window on the third floor open. Third floor, that was manageable enough.

Lou bent her legs while the agents were getting ready to aim at her. Lou wondered whether or not their guns held real bullets. She jumped and the agents' bullets-real or not-missed her.

White didn't want Max dead that was for sure, but what about her? Lou had nothing to give him, no address to find his son, no Coming to stop from what he knew.

She landed on the window's sill right near a flowerpot. Well, there was a pot though the flower was nowhere to be seen. New gun shots and pop went the pot!

Lou decided not to linger outside and didn't wait for an invitation to come in. She passed her left leg in first, bent her body to pass her head and chest in; last came her right leg. The sight that lay before her eyes within the apartment nearly made her want to go back and face the NSA agents.

A human wale lay on a couch. Lou thought that he deserved his name in the book of records. That would probably be his only instant of glory in his entire life. He held a remote control in one hand and his other hand was constantly making the same path from his mouth to a bowl filled with pop corn, leaving trails of food along the way. Disgusting image, really!

"Marge, bring me another beer!"

_Wow! It actually talks!_ This was as surprising as when you heard Joshua talk for the first time! The guy nearly had a heart attack when he noticed Lou coming in via the window. Had his constitution included less fat, he would've been able to get up.

However, given the givens, all he managed to do was spill more pop corn on his T-shirt.

"Don't mind me really" Lou said, "I'm just passing through"

She entered another room which seemed to be the kitchen. A woman, who much resembled a faded flower, was standing in the middle of the room, holding a beer, her mouth dropping open as she saw Lou.

"Marge, right?" Lou said, "Look frankly between you and me, as in girl talk, women have been fighting for their rights for like, decades"

Lou walked to the kitchen's window. She looked down; no use going there, they must have secured the whole building.

"Do you think it's for their daughters to be enslaved to guys like couch potato over there?" she went on.

Her best chance was to reach the roof and jump to another building.

"I mean, come on, Madonna's gotta be tossing and turning in her grave!"

There was a fire escape ladder on this side of the building though it didn't seem very stable. She'd have to use the pipes and climb. It looked safer.

"You can do better than this" she added before disappearing out the window leaving a still opened mouth Marge with a beer in her hand.

The climbing was easy enough. What was worrying her was what she would be facing on the top of the building, on the roof.

She had that feeling again. The same she had experienced at the hospital; the building was... dangerous for her. A feeling she had now understood was to associate to Ames White.

Lou knew that he'd be on top of the roof waiting for her. She thought better to ignore her instinct and take her chances against Ames White as opposed to twenty maybe thirty armed and angry NSA agents. Not that White wouldn't be angry or armed.

Still even in proportion, one Familiar couldn't be compared to twenty humans and even if he could match them, Lou wanted to face him. She needed to after what he had done to Brin.

"Well, well, why am I not surprised?" she said as she lifted herself up.

"Really, not even a little? This is all getting very boring" Ames White sighed.

"You're right, kicking your ass really is getting boring"

"That's one thing you have in common with your sister" he spit out that last word with a perfect expression of complete disdain, "your punkass mouth"

"I'll take that as a compliment"

Lou wasn't really feeling as cocky as she looked. Facing Ames White all by herself... what if she was biting off more than she could chew? Still, she was a soldier and if that was the way it was supposed to end, than she was ready to face it.

Lou raised her first, bent her legs in a fighting stance. Ames White let a grim smirk play on his lips before adopting the same position. Lou went for it first. They fought for several minutes on the top of that building: kick after punch after jump after knee sweep.

Lou knew that White's men would come bulging onto the roof soon but she couldn't find a way to get rid of him. He wasn't stronger than she was, but he couldn't feel pain and that might sometime soon come as an advantage to him.

Yet, for now, Ames White found that he had already used all of his patience for the day. He wanted to get rid of that transgenic and he wanted to get rid of it _now! _452 would come after him when she would find her sister's corpse on this roof. And we would be ready, standing near by.

Boiling with impatience, White decided it was about time that he draw his gun and as he did so, Lou started panicking. She was already panting and nearly out of breath.

How long had they been fighting? Shouldn't White's men have arrived already? Yes, they should have. Unless of course, this was all part of a plan she hadn't foreseen. Things are bad, Lou thought. And as a matter of fact, things were really bad.

White made a clean and precise knee sweep and Lou landed hard on the floor. She looked up almost immediately and White was on top of her, his gun aimed at her head.

She was alone, alone with White and his weapon. No big sister to save her, no Alec to take a bullet for her, no one; just her, icy blue eyes and a loader. And that wasn't your usual combination that led to hugs and puppies.

"You see..." White paused, "I'm gonna need to know your designation as I will not call you by first name"

"What's wrong Ames?" she spoke like the defiant teenage girl that she was "Afraid of calling things by their own name? Lemme try: Ames White is nothing but an insufferable bastard" she paused, shrugged "I seem to be having no problem with it"

"I guess I'll just have to look at your bar-code once I've lodged a bullet in your head" White said coolly "You see, after killing your sister last week, I get to kill you. I'll track every single one of you down and kill you one by one if that's what it takes"

His hand squeezed on the trigger and his eyes were fixed on Lou's.

Her huge brown almond shaped eyes never betraying herself or her sisters' presence for that matter.

Max jumped on White's back. The gun fired once but Lou had time to roll on her side. Noah also popped out of nowhere and retrieved the gun from White's hand. White was still making a big deal of getting rid of Max on his back.

Noah aimed the gun and fired once. Max felt White give a slight jump as one of his legs collapsed. He looked up at Noah and told her:

"What are you waiting for? Shoot me"

Noah really seemed to be considering the idea. Max looked at her but Noah's green eyes were fixed upon her target.

He had killed their sister and so many others. He deserved to die. But that wouldn't really come as a good point in the media war, the S1W, Eyes Only, OC's organization wanted to launch.

The first thing to do when you want to fit in a society is to follow its rules. In this case follow the law, even though your enemies don't.

Noah lowered the gun, emptied it before throwing it away. Lou walked up to White who couldn't get up anymore, let alone follow them and spit in his face.

"If we did shoot you, your little gang of Familiars will send another one of you and this one just might be qualified" Max scoffed, "We wouldn't want that, would we?"

"Let's get the hell outta here" Noah said.

"You can't! My men have surrounded the building!"

"There are only so many escape exits we can use" Max noted "But you won't be able to tell them that" she added putting on her fakest sorry face.

She punched him hard in the face. Surprised, he fell on his back and Max grabbed both his earpiece and his cell phone and they soon joined his unloaded gun.

All three of them turned their back on him, making for the roof of another building. They went through several buildings before deciding it was safe for them to join the street again. Then they made their way back to OC's where they had left their motorcycles and all their goodies.

From there, they headed back to the facility, neither of them wanting to imagine Lydecker's reaction to their report.

-------------------

"You WHAT?" Noah and Max were in Lydecker's office.

Not really knowing whether or not they should be taking a sudden interest in their shoes or stand up to the man.

"You left her alone with a civilian?" he yelled again "And she made contact with two ordinaries?"

"The press might not know about it. The couple she talked to might not even know she's a transgenic" Noah tempted.

"Let me picture myself lying on my couch, watching TV in my _third floor_ apartment when a teenager popes out of the window! Doesn't that just happen everyday?!!"

_Ok, lame attempt._ Lydecker fell silent and the girls wondered if this meant the end of the storm or only a calm before and the worst was still to come.

"How did he find you?" he finally asked on a calmer level.

"No idea" Max shrugged.

"This can't be a coincidence. He spotted three X5s last week. How can that be?"

"He's gotta be using some kind of detector" Noah said, "That's the only explanation"

White knew what they looked like, he could've passed on portraits of the three of them to sector cops. But that didn't explain how he had gotten a hold of Zane, Jondy and Brin the previous week.

Yes, a detector seemed the only explanation, Lydecker told himself. And that answer didn't make him more at ease in the least.

-------------------

"Hey mum, I didn't think you'd be up. It's rather late... I mean early for you guys" Lou spoke in a soft voice.

"I haven't been sleeping very well lately. I wonder why" Mrs. Wilson said sarcastically, "Maybe it's because my daughter's in a third world country facing God knows what"

Lou only smirked weakly.

"What's wrong honey? You don't look so good"

"I'm just really tired" Lou lied.

The truth was, Lou wondered, if she had been in Noah's place, if she wouldn't have shot Ames White. The guy deserved it but what was bothering her was that she could feel so much hatred for someone... other than Deck - oh, there was also this math teacher, that always thought she cheated during exams.

She hadn't grown up in a hostile environment and she had been taught that taking a man's life, no matter who the man was, should be avoided. Not that she had ever wanted to kill a man till now, really take a man's life and actually feeling pleased about it.

That was a line she had never crossed, she wondered if Max and the others had.

"When you start calling me every day, I know that something's wrong Lou"

"Max, Noah and I went on a recon mission today in Seattle and well, we came across the man that murdered Brin. He's not really human you know, but then again neither am I. He would've killed me without a second thought"

Lou noticed her mother gasping and then, try and do her best so as not to interrupt her daughter; there obviously was something more important than Lou nearly being killed. Mrs. Wilson didn't really feel like hearing the rest.

"But Noah and Max showed up. Noah caught his gun and had the chance to kill him... but she didn't"

"That's very noble of her" her mother said still holding her breath.

"Yes, but I think that if it had been me, I think I might not have made the same decision and-"

Lou was interrupted as Logan burst into the room.

"Cut the transmission!! Cut it _now_!" he yelled, alarmed.

Lou didn't even ask for a reason, she looked at the screen and said: "Bye mum" before doing as Logan had ordered.

"What's going on?" Lou asked facing him.

"The line is not secured anymore!"

"What? How's that possible? I checked the time, it hasn't been two minutes yet!" she pleaded.

"White's men have probably been working on this line for quite some time. I can't believe I haven't noticed it!"

"Oh my God, they're coming then, aren't they?" Lou gasped.

"No. No danger for us" Logan shook his head, "We're untraceable"

"What?" Lou frowned, "How?"

"Two very acute questions but we don't have the time for now. Just know that White's men didn't get the location from which the call was made, but they just might have the location to which the call was made"

"They know where my parents are?" Lou asked horrified.

Logan nodded silently and as he did so, her heart sank. Like she hadn't already caused enough damage in one single day!

-------------------

**End of the Chapter**

Look at the cute puppy eyes of the purple review button... come on, you can pat him... go ahead!


	7. Big Big Girl

**Title: **...Happily Ever After

**Author: **Roxy

**Beta Reader: **Rose

**Category: **Action, Humor and Romance. (M/L)

**Rating: **PG 13

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee. I don't own Dark Angel, though Noah and Lou do belong to me. I am making no money out of this.

**Summary: **This is my hit at a 3rd season. Max and the others are trapped in TC, surrounded by White's men. A new little sister comes along. Deck reappears (isn't he just our favorite bad guy?). X5s reunion. More Familiars and how to deal with them.

**Previous Chapter: **Max and Noah are sent on a supposed 'recon mission' that goes sideways as Lou tags along. They meet Original Cindy, who is currently working with Asha and the S1W on a movement that would defend the trannies' rights in the upcoming media war. The four girls head to South Market to buy a few goodies for the trannies that stayed back at the facility. There, they split up and Lou ends up facing Ames White on her own. Of course, Max and Noah come in to save the day and everybody heads back to the facility safe and sound. Meanwhile, White's men have managed to track a transmission between Lou and her parents.

**Notes: **So this is a very long chapter, the longest yet... yes people, thirty six pages! Good luck reading it all. While writing this chapter, I've had to face a real author's block plus Beta-Babe was really busy with College so that's why we're a little behind schedule... we'll both do our best to make sure this doesn't happen again... Hope you all enjoy this chapter, cuz this was hard work people! ;-)

**Feedback: **_M/L Only:_ Sorry, but no Max and Logan in this chapter... Chapter 7, however, is full of it... You can't build a whole season on just romance. I think the main category of this fic is general because I can hardly stick to only one category! I'm sorry if this is a problem... There is going to be M/L in the coming chapters, maybe not as much as you wish (get together, problems they will have to face as a couple because all this is new concept for Max, more get together ;-) ). But M/L are not the main plot of this fic, sorry. This fic is going to be much too big for that! I have twenty one chapters planned and as you've seen so far, my chapters count from 20 to 30 pages! Bear with me though, and you'll get what you want, after all, I'm a M/L shipper too ;-)

_BlackRose9: _Just so you know, each time I post a new chapter, I now wait for one of your enthusiastic reviews... It makes me nervous, because I have the feeling that each time, you're expecting something, something that's better be good... but I'm always glad to know you're around in the end. Thanks.

_Somebody's Dark Angel:_ Well you're assuming right, the virus is going to be cured... really soon btw... I'm sorry to say, that I'm not a genius of science so I won't dwell too much on how the virus was cured. Let's just say that New Manticore is full of young, talented searchers who don't ask outrageous amount of money to start working on a blood sample. Or if they do, they're not sending the bill to Max or Logan.

_Amanda_: Alas, a new reader! Welcome aboard and be ready for a long trip (21 chapters planned!). A different direction than the show? Maybe, I don't really know, but if the direction the show was taking is reflected in the books than I'm rather glad that I haven't gone there! (Not much a fan of the books, can you tell? ;-) ) I'm not saying a third season would have happened this way, I mean Lou is a spoiled, selfish, immature, preppy little brat, product of my imagination... However, in every new season, new characters show up (Alec and Joshua in S2) so having another sister join the gang wasn't that improbable... well at least not to me. Especially with Max getting all responsible and becoming the world's savior and all! Well hoping you'll stay with us for a while...

**Further Notes, then I promise I'll let you read: **Yes people, we've made it! 20 reviews and that's without counting the ones I get on forums and on LJ! That's it, I have reached complete plenitude! (I know, I have very low life expectations :p ) Now that I have finished my random ramblings, you may read... ;-)

**-------------------**

...**Happily Ever After**

**Chapter VI: Big Big Girl**

"We've got an address Sir!" Otto said bursting in his boss's office, triumphantly holding out a paper.

White immediately spun around. No quotas of patience today. He needed to know and he needed to know _now_!

"Mr. and Mrs. George Wilson live near Manchester"

"Are we sure that Mr. and Mrs. George Wilson really are the people we are looking for?" White asked raising his brow suspiciously.

"Yes" Otto nodded with satisfaction, "The Wilson couple was in the United States on a business trip of Mr. -he's a retired ambassador- on June 2009. And when they left the country a few months later, it was with a five year old little girl: Lou Wilson, their daughter, _adopted_ daughter"

White grabbed the paper from Otto's hands, nearly tearing it apart. The Familiar started pacing his office and if he hadn't been Ames White, he might've stopped to do the dance of glory and maybe even the dance of vengeance! However, he thought he ought to keep it to a simple chuckle as Otto was still giving him the accomplished look a doggy gives its master when it knows it's done well.

"But... um Sir?" Otto risked, "I've been thinking"

White had his back to his employee and couldn't repress rolling his eyes. Some people are just not meant for intellectual activity and the sooner in their lives these persons realize it, the better for their professional circle. In that sense, 'I've been thinking' seemed completely out of place coming from Otto's mouth.

"It's just... Manchester, it's in all the way in England" Otto continued.

Well, what do you know? The little guy knows his geography, Ames White told himself.

"We can't interfere in other countries' policies. I mean, they are certainly not going to let us get a hold of those two British citizens. And anyway, considering how the last hostage situation turned out-"

_Wow, he also has long term memory!_

Stop it Ames, you're abusing sarcasm, the Familiar told himself. He might just have to change right hand man if the guy kept showing so many signs of _trying_ to be intelligent.

Anyway, Ames White didn't answer Otto. He just rubbed his hands in satisfaction. True, the NSA couldn't interfere in Britain, but he knew others who could...

-------------------

"To England? Tomorrow morning?" Lydecker snorted, "Right" he added sarcastically.

Alone with the ghost of her childhood's nightmares, Lou was trying really hard to deal with anxiety, guiltiness and total panic – these were her own feelings - but Lydecker not taking her seriously was something she didn't feel like handling right now.

"I don't think you quite get it" Lou said in a last attempt at being calm, "My parents are in danger. White knows where they are. I have to get to them before he does. If I don't leave first thing tomorrow morning-"

"- you won't fall into a trap" Lydecker said finally serious.

"So let's hear your brilliant plan to save the day"

"It's simple: we know that the Familiars know that you know that they have your parents"

Lou frowned: thank god she was an X5 because Lydecker always had a talent at putting things in the simplest way...

"So of course, they're expecting you to come and get them. Even an X8 would see that it's trap. That's why you're not going" he said stating the obvious.

"Right" Lou said hitting her forehead with the palm of her hand as if she had just had a revelation "I should just stay here and let them kill my parents! Why didn't I think of it first? You're such a genius Lydecker, you never fail to impress me" she added ironically.

"It's time for you to start acting responsible" Lydecker said ignoring her intolerant tone.

"I don't think we have the same definition of the word 'responsible'. However, I'm quite sure that the _Oxford Dictionary_ doesn't mention that being responsible implies leaving your parents in the hands of psychotic members of a whacky murderous cult!"

Now she was pissed! Do _not_ touch the parents!

How could he be sitting behind his desk and act as if he was just telling her that she had to cut back on the milkshakes?

"Maybe if you had started acting responsible a long time ago, many things wouldn't be what they are right now!"

Now _he_ was pissed!

"What the hell are you talking about Lydecker?"

"You put these persons in danger in the first place! They never should've raised you because you never should've left Manticore!"

Oh, that was it! The good old recriminations on why Donny had lost his wonderful kids!

"I'd really love to stay here and recall my wonderful childhood memories with you Lydecker, but right now I have people _dying_ on my hands. So, if you'll excuse me-"

"Even without going so far back in time... your lack of discipline and responsibility has already caused us major losses!" he said ignoring her.

"Are you talking about Brin? Is it my fault that she died?" Lou said: cocky attitude gone and emotion making its way through her voice.

"No! I'm talking about today's recon mission you completely blew up?" he said rising from his chair.

Lou bit her lip. He hadn't been talking about Brin.

"That wasn't all my fault! Even you couldn't have known those agents were going to be there! If Max and Noah had been alone, the same thing would have happened!" she pleaded.

Why was she justifying her actions to him? She felt like a little girl trying to show her father that she only had good intentions. But she didn't want to be that little girl! She would show him! She could be responsible too!

"Max and Noah wouldn't have chosen to face White instead of his agents! You made that choice because you wanted to get back at him for what had happened to Brin!" Lydecker was near yelling now, "This was a misjudgment caused by you _feeling_ things instead of _thinking_ them!"

Lou remained still; intensely focusing on a spot in the air on Lydecker's left. She swallowed silently.

"I thought I had taught you better! Emotions are nothing but a weakness that your enemy shouldn't be able to use against you!"

Right, and Lou had a very good idea of who was her enemy at the very moment.

"I'm leaving whether you like it or not" she spoke almost in a whisper, still staring.

"No you're not, you're staying right here!"

Finally, she looked him in the eye and realized he no longer was the ten feet tall monster with a cold gaze that terrified her and her siblings. No, he was just... a man, not a nice one but still, only a man. And she was a transgenic. He couldn't stop her.

Lou spun around and headed for the door.

"This is an order X5 515!" he said threateningly.

"My name is Lou Wilson and you have no right whatsoever to give me an order" she spoke coldly, "You're no one Lydecker. You can't _make_ us do anything. What do you think? That you've managed to get all your precious little kids back? That everything's back the way it used to be? Well, reality check: Manticore's gone, for real and for good. Can you spell 'temporary situation'?"

She went for the door again and Lydecker said in a calm and neutral voice:

"If you leave now, don't even think about coming back"

She turned on her heels to face him: the frightened little girl was nowhere to be seen.

"Right, why don't you just clone me before I leave? That way, when I'm gone, you'll still have the same number of soldiers and seeing as how that's all you need to be happy" she shrugged.

He held her gaze, neither of them daring to look away before the other.

"You know sometimes I wonder" she went on, "Were you always this cold, this dead inside? I don't know how you even turned into the cold hearted bastard that you are!"

She was way beyond pissed now and blinded by her own pain, she was not really aware of the impact of her words. With that last sentence that echoed deep into Lydecker's head, Lou stepped out and slammed the door.

'Posh X5' had no idea how deep the wound she had reawakened was. Lydecker heavily sighed and gazed at the spot where Lou had stood just seconds ago. Without taking his eyes away from that spot, he sat down behind his desk.

Lou was wrong: contact with these kids had kept awake that tiny bit of heart that hadn't died away with her... his wife.

-------------------

"Well, well that was quite a show you put on in Lydecker's office" Alec said his trade mark smirk painted on his face as he leaned on the threshold of Lou's room.

She had her back to him and was furiously throwing a few clothes in her backpack. Alec walked to her casually, hands in his pockets.

"Has the cat bit out your tongue?" he joked, "You don't even wanna know how I found out? Ok, I'll tell you anyway. So an X7 happened to-" he interrupted himself when he caught a glance at her face.

She was looking down at whatever she was putting in her bag; her long wavy hair in her face and her almond shaped eyes hidden by cap dragged too low. But Alec knew too well the symptoms: cheeks red from rubbing the tears away and runny nose. Lou had unmistakably been crying.

"Hey, what's wrong kiddo?" he asked in the most sympathizing tone he was capable of.

"Don't call me kiddo" she said coldly, still not looking at him "And I'm fine. Go away"

"I know you're leaving" Alec shrugged.

"Yeah, yeah, I got that the first time" Lou said still trying to keep her hands busy in order to keep looking down "now go away"

"So you're going back to England?" Alec said tentatively.

Lou didn't answer and continued doing whatever it was she was pretending to do.

"I didn't really get the details. You know, X7s, you need a computer to translate and I'm not very patient so-"

"So you just came to get the details from the source, right? What? Planning on joining Sketchy once you're outta here?! Well, please take notes: at this very moment, White's got my parents because I couldn't get home soon enough. And you wanna know why I couldn't get home soon enough? Because Lydecker wouldn't let me go! But here's your scoop Alec: I'm going and I'm never coming back!" she yelled and as she did so, she finally looked at him.

Her eyes were puffy and red, both because she hadn't slept and after a confrontation with White you definitely needed some sleep and because she had been crying. She looked flushed as well: her cheekbones highlighted in pink and her hair usually so well arranged was all messed up.

"You sure he's already got them?" Alec asked remaining serious.

"Yes" she said impatiently "Gift coming straight from Sandeman: call it highly developed female instinct!"

She sighed heavily. She was packing but she didn't know how she was going to get back to England. NSA agents would probably stop her before she even got on the plane since they now knew who she was.

She wished Alec would leave; she just wanted to be alone.

She let herself fall heavily on her bed and Alec came to sit next to her. Why couldn't he just go? She didn't want to see anyone, she didn't want anyone to see her so helpless and scared.

Alec just looked at her for a second; not knowing really how the deal with a seventeen year old girl crying over her parents. He decided that putting his hand on hers would be a good start.

Lou jumped at the touch and couldn't help but frown at him.

"You're not alone. We won't let you down" he said softly.

"Who's 'we'?" Lou asked.

"I'm not too sure about that, but I think I'm part of it" Max weakly smiled from the threshold.

Lou jumped once again, her hand shaking away Alec's as she got up and walked to Max.

"Jeez Max, keep doing that and I just might think that you're spying on me" Alec said sarcastically.

"And you keep doing that and I just might have to" she said taking Lou in her arms, "It's gonna be all right. The rescue team's on it"

"What?" Lou asked.

"Alec, why don't you go see Logan and tell him that you're also part of the trip?" Max suggested.

"Max, that's rude" Alec said fainting to be hurt.

"What now?"

"If this is going to be sister talk, say so. Don't send me over to Logan's for God knows what" he said cockily walking out the door.

Lou smiled and even Max couldn't help the corners of her full lips from twitching.

-------------------

They had been flying for over an hour now and the panic and hyper-excitement that had overwhelmed the five of them when they had first heard the news, had partly faded away.

Noah was sitting between Zack and Max; she looked down the central row, a row fully occupied by X5s. Lou was sitting between Max and Alec; at first, the junior X5 had started dozing off on Max's shoulder. The girls hadn't slept in the last 48 hours and Noah was starting to feel that her body was seriously requiring some. Max however looked perfectly fresh. 'Damn that shark DNA!' Noah smirked.

She gave another glance to her left, down the row; Lou's head was now dangerously dangling towards Alec's shoulder. Noah snorted; what would 'Posh X5' say if she could see herself drooling this way? Plus, drooling all over... what was it that Lou had called Alec again? Oh, yeah... just another guy overdosed with testosterone that prides himself on jumping everything that has breasts... Whatever, Noah rolled her eyes.

Noah turned her eyes to her right; Zack looked even more serious than usual. His blonde hair was falling in his face, the blue of his eyes barely distinguishable under the deep frown on his forehead. If he kept going, X5 or not, Zack would end up with wrinkles!

Noah put her hand on his, thus making him jump out of his thoughts. I bet he was going through a plan in that little head of his with the little information that we have, she guessed. In fact, Noah realized that they didn't know _anything_. In fact, all they knew was that the Familiars knew that they knew that they had Lou's parents (_Gotta get some sleep Noah, you're sounding like Deck!_).

Lou had phoned a certain William, her butler from what it looked like ('Oh my God! She has a butler! Do those even exist?') and asked him to come and pick them up at Heathrow Airport in London.

Zack had explained that they could get to Manchester by car and that it would be safer. What if the Familiars would be waiting for them in Manchester's airport?

Noah came back to reality when she saw blue eyes looking at her questioningly.

"You Ok?" she asked.

"Yeah" he smiled weakly, gently squeezing her hand.

She gave him a smile matching his own and leaned forward to kiss the side of his forehead hidden beneath blonde hair. Noah had always thought that Zack's voice sounded softer than his appearance first suggested. It contrasted with his harsh expression and self confident attitude.

"You've changed, you know? In a good way"

He kept silent knowing that she would explain further more without him asking.

"Maybe it's because our enemy's changed too" Noah shrugged "but I don't think so, you've been changing gradually for a year now. There was a time when you would've sacrificed the two ordinaries without a second thought, if that meant keeping us alive"

It was true; Zack had killed when they had been in danger. For Max, he had killed Voogelsang. At some point, he had even considered killing all those that knew about their secret. That was X5 599's side, but even when she switched to X5 344 mode, Noah hated killing. But Zack just didn't seem to mind and that was almost frightening.

"You didn't care how much we cared about those ordinaries, how much we considered them as equals... you only saw them as a threat to our safety, that they would lead Lydecker straight to us"

Zack had asked Max to leave Seattle, to leave Logan, even if at the time there had been a possible self interest in this scenario.

Noah also remembered when he had asked her to leave Phoenix because of Ginna. Ginna had been to Noah what OC was to Max; she had been her big sister, her roommate, her first real friend, she had found her a job, a crib and now she was dead.

Zack hadn't killed her but he still had considered her as a major threat.

And of course, there had been Billie (X5 101) and Eric, her ordinary boyfriend. Zack had ordered Billie to leave Eric in the hands of Manticore when they had nearly caught up with her. Now whether or not Billie had obeyed him; that was another story.

From the look on Zack's face, Noah knew she had touched a sensitive spot and that he too, was going through painful memories all over again. She squeezed his hand tighter and spoke softly:

"I know you're not going to like this, but it's true: you are the perfect soldier, you are _exactly_ what Manticore was trying to achieve. You've lived up to their expectations and it's just that it used to scare me sometimes; it used to scare us all. Because we saw in you Deck's way of thinking, his logic. You always acted for the greater good and sometimes you forgot about individuals. You impressed us because we knew that sooner or later, if we couldn't, you'd do what it took to make sure that we would stay safe"

Zack's eyes seemed painted with sadness after hearing that she had ever been scared of him. Noah felt a hint of guiltiness but she knew that once it'd be over, things would be ok. She just needed to say this, and she knew that Zack needed to hear it as well.

"And you've changed in a sense that it's not the CO or X5 599 sitting here with me, it's you, it's just you. You've gone against Lydecker's orders; you've decided that those ordinaries were worth risking our lives to get them back. It's a first step towards seeing them as equals. We have to work both on their sides and on ours as well. And we... I couldn't be happier about anything than you being here with me" she smiled.

Zack seemed lost in memories once again and a female voice echoed in his head: _'You're missing the whole thing if you don't open up your heart a little Zack. You're only seeing the bad things of this world. Don't spoil your life, big bro'_

"Thank Tinga" he finally said then shrugging he added, "Anyway, I have a feeling that 'Annoying Brat' and 'Stubborn Pain in the Ass' would've followed 'Posh X5' if the snotty prat had been going to the Artic continent! You girls are too protective with her. She gets too much attention"

"Right" Noah said grinning "Blame it on me and Max. And don't talk to me about being too protective! I believe you're the only one on this plane with canine DNA"

He beamed, put her arm around his 'Annoying Little Brat' and Noah curled up against him. She slept through the rest of the flight.

-------------------

When the world is supposed to be broken due to an EM pulse, it's funny to realize that many people haven't changed their way of life. Airplanes were expensive, very expensive, Logan expensive and yet Heathrow Airport was crowded.

Max already knew that, pulse or not, some people hadn't changed their way of life in the past eleven years but it was still impressive to see how many there really were!

Max didn't say anything but she guessed that Lou's parents were among these people and she was trying really hard not to let her ambivalent experience concerning rich guys have the best of her.

After all, these people had adopted Lou even though she wasn't exactly normal. Maybe they had only found that out later on but still, they hadn't repudiated her, had they? Then, who was Max to barge into their life and push on them her preconceived thoughts about fellows that don't need to work to survive.

Max saw Lillian Wilson as an older version of Posh X5. She rolled her eyes just imagining the mother and daughter reunion:

'Oh my God, look at your hair! Your roots are showing honey! We gotta get you to the hair specialist immediately! It's a matter of life and death!'

'I know Mum, Lydecker wouldn't let me go and anyway, there aren't any _Vidal Sassoon _in Seattle. While we're at it maybe you could get your nails done, what has White done to them?'

Max smirked imagining that the worst torture Ames White could come up for Lou would be to leave her without shaving her legs for over a month while giving her the Joan of Arc hair cut that would make her look so 80s!

The gang traveled light and so, had no baggage to retrieve. Lou led the way to the exit. She was on familiar ground here. She quickened her pace and seemed nearly out of breath and yet, there was a smile stretched across her face.

She burst outside the airport, looked around and then rushed again. She let go of her backpack and blurred into the arms of a man Max hadn't spotted yet.

In his mid thirties, the man was standing straight as a picket fence in a perfectly black suit and a matching cap, near a black limousine: William was Max's guess.

He didn't seem to know how to respond to Lou's sudden embrace; trapped between surprise (had he even seen her coming?), a hold back worthy of a true Englishman and obvious happiness. Finally, he gave in and hugged the little girl he had helped raise in his arms.

Zack, Noah, Max and Alec walked to them.

"Try not blurring in the middle of an airport, Lou" Zack said frowning and glancing around nervously, "What if Familiars are around?"

Max looked at Noah and they both shared the 'whatever' look. Zack was paranoid and that was common knowledge.

Only then did William notice the four of them. He let go of Lou to straighten up, cleared his throat and held out his hand to Zack.

"William Barnum Deice, butler to the Wilson family" he said in a British accent.

Alec snorted from somewhere behind the girls but Zack looked at serious as ever when he grabbed the butler's hand and said:

"Zack"

Lou was beaming as she introduced her sisters and Alec. They soon threw their backpacks in the trunk and relaxed in the limousine William was driving.

-------------------

It was a long ride till Manchester. When they reached the imposing gate that lead to the Wilson Manor, Max couldn't help but gasp. From her cat burglary years, she knew that the gate was just show off and that you could easily be disappointed by the treasures that lay within.

However, somehow Max didn't think that it'd be the case this time.

Once they had passed the tennis field, the fitness room and the covered swimming pool, the car reached the main building. It looked renewed though ancient and its inside had completely been redone to fit the needs of a family.

Logan would be getting lost in that kitchen and Max wondered whether or not Mrs. Wilson used it or if they had chef. Maybe they even had several chefs, each with a specialty...

There was something like four or five living rooms but you could tell which ones served as museums and which one was really used by the family: it had a huge plasma screen TV and everything you need to make yourself a home cinema.

Pictures of Lou were here and there: Lou skiing, Lou in a new dress looking like a live doll with brown ringlets and bows in her hair, Lou at her 11th birthday party, Lou getting her Labrador Donald, Lou chasing her Dad, Lou kissing her Mom, Lou playing with her new computer, Lou this and Lou that...

It seemed like this whole house was made for her.

"They couldn't have any kids of their own" Lou said her hands uneasily hidden behind her back.

Max and Noah were staring at the many pictures of her and she felt forced to justify herself.

Alec was wandering somewhere where all the valuable stuffs were and Zack was staring at the DVD collection.

"I can't believe you guys have the entire Star Wars collection" Zack said in total awe.

Max looked at Noah questioningly; Noah just rolled her eyes and said:

"You didn't know? You wanna see your CO act like a 5 year old kid? Just put in a Star Wars DVD, any episode will do"

"Noah, check it out, they've even got the first three episodes" Zack called from the next room.

"Really?" Noah said fainting interest though Zack didn't seem to notice, "I can hardly wait"

She walked way, leaving Lou and Max alone.

"Are you all right?" Max asked her.

"Yeah" Posh X5 said not exactly as confident as usual, "Let's just stick to business. The Familiars left a note. Can you believe it? A note? And I thought White was the black sheep..."

"Sure..." Max smiled weakly.

Once the four X5s, William and Donald were reunited in the living room (one of them anyway), Zack who had finally gotten Luke Skywalker out of his head questioned the butler for a very long time. Long enough for the girls and Alec to take a shower and for Lou to doze off, Donald drooling on her laps. 'Like masters, like dogs', Noah told herself remembering the scene on the plane.

"Well, at least, they're not big on timing" Alec yawned, "I mean, Friday night, the castle's ruins up North" he added reading out loud the note left by the Familiars, "We could go clubbing and join them as an after-party"

"What I don't understand is how they managed to kidnap Mr. and Mrs. Wilson only two hours after the call had been traced" William noted, "Didn't you say that this White character lives in Seattle? He couldn't have possibly got here in so short a time"

"I guest that supports the theory: taking in Familiars isn't just an American privilege" Noah shrugged.

"Sure does" Zack nodded, "About that castle William?"

And Zack went back to questioning the butler all over again, for William was the only one that knew anything about the location where the Wilsons were being held against their will.

-------------------

What the hell was she doing? Was this really Zack's plan? Did he really want her to step in the castle without any protection whatsoever and no way of contacting the three of them if things turned ugly?

Lou was asking herself all these questions as she loudly inhaled in order to dissipate the tension in her entire body.

She was standing alone in the cold night air between the trees of the forest that lay on the side of the castle's ruins, her meeting point with the Familiars. The silence around her was making her feel uneasy as much as the ruins that were rising before her.

The place looked like the perfect setting for a horror movie. The night was only adding to its haunted aspect and was far from reassuring 'Posh X5'.

'Why did it have to be during nighttime? I mean, I'm sure even Familiars have plans on Friday night! Why not in the afternoon?' She asked herself.

She checked her watch: it was time.

She inhaled once more, stepped out of the trees and walked straight to the old drawbridge, entrance of the castle, that was facing South.

Here goes nothing, she whispered as she saw two hooded Familiars walk to her.

-------------------

Max tried to focus on the task at hand and to ignore... various external elements.

Maybe in her next life she would be rewarded for always hooking up with Alec on missions!

God, why didn't he EVER shut up?

"... after becoming the world's most famous and successful lawyer, I could-"

"Shut up" Max snapped, "We're really close to the walls, they might hear us!"

So much for the karma, Max inertly shrugged but hey, a girl can only take so much!

A) She had been assigned Alec as partner _again_, B) Lou was going to get in that damned Fortress any second now, C) She didn't even know whether or not they could rescue the Wilsons, parents or daughter and D) There was a Familiar up on the wall they intended to climb... _great!_

Max and Alec intended to get into the castle via the Eastern side and Max guessed that on the West side, Zack and Noah would be experiencing the same Familiar problem.

White was bound to have, at least, one cult member pacing in the round way of each of the four sides of the castle.

Climbing wouldn't be the hardest part. After all, they were all cats here. The hardest part would be getting past the Familiar and into the inner court without any of the four guards to notice them.

Once they had reached to edge of the ancient stone wall and stood inches away from the hooded Familiar each time he passed by, Max realized that there would be no way for both her and Alec to get pass him and past the others.

While the guard on the east side-their side-had his back to them, Max peeped above the stone and saw that she had guessed right: there was one Familiar on each, North, South, East and West, side of the castle.

She turned to Alec, right beside her and made a few military moves with her free hand, the one that wasn't strongly gripping the stone.

Alec nodded and they both peeped above the stone like Max had minutes earlier.

"Zack?" Max whispered in her ear piece, "You know what would be great? You taking care of the Western fellow"

The answer came in a tone matching hers:

"One step ahead of ya. Always had a soft spot for hooded robes"

She looked at the guard pacing the west round way and as a confirmation, he slightly nodded. It was Zack.

She turned to Alec to make sure he too had gotten it. He nodded, they all had an earpiece.

Hazel eyes on the northern guard, hazel green eyes on the southern one. They both mumbled an indistinguishable 'clear' when both the Familiars had their back to them.

Max applied a strong pressure on both her legs and hands, and jumped over the edge of the wall to land as soft as a feather in the round way, facing the eastern guard.

The Familiar shook his head in surprise, never uttering a single noise. Alec matched Max's jump and landed behind the Familiar. He grabbed him and the Familiar who had been unaware of the presence of a second transgenic, fell unanimated in his arms as Alec snapped his neck.

"Max, Alec! South and North looking your way in approximately three seconds"

Max exchanged a look of panic and urgency with Alec.

Then, as the X5 let the Familiar's body slide to the floor, his fingers gripping the black cloak, she groveled to the floor.

Two seconds later, northern and southern guards looked their way but all they saw was their brother looking over the eastern wall and nodding at them. And as they nodded back, they had no idea that four transgenic had just compromised their location.

"We're clear" Max spoke in her earpiece, still flattened against the cold hard stone.

"Same here. Proceed to the objective" came the CO's order.

And Max and Alec's objective was the keep.

-------------------

If Lou still had had doubts on whether or not the Familiars were gentlemen, well the brutal way with which they were dragging her across the drawbridge, the inner court and up to the chapel had given her some food for thought concerning that answer.

'The chapel? Why are they taking me to the chapel?' Lou wondered and though she had no idea why, she didn't think it could ever lead to something positive either... well, at least not something positive for her.

The two Familiars were using an incredible amount of force to drag her and make sure she didn't escape. But Lou knew that even if she did manage to get away from Beavus and Butthead (_God, I'm sounding American!_), she wouldn't be able to get out of the castle.

There were hooded guards walking on all north, south, east and west round ways and Lou even wondered if Alec and her siblings had managed to get in! If not then... she didn't even want to think of what it would mean if she was on her own.

She hadn't had the privilege of wearing an earpiece; Alec had pointed out that the Familiars would probably have searched her and for once, Alec had been right.

Laurel and Hardy (_Now that's more of English reference_) were pushing her down so much she could barely keep her legs straight. They hadn't handcuffed her but they were keeping her head down in a way that she could only stare at the stone steps of the stairs they were climbing.

Finally, when one of them released her neck from the constant pressure he had been applying during the last ten minutes, Lou was able to look up but couldn't repress a groan at the sight that lay before her.

Ames White looked awkward not wearing his usual black suit, in fact you could even wonder if it really was him in the long dark hooded robe and the clutches he had to thank Noah for.

Then, Lou looked more carefully: the cold stare, the self content smirk, hands in his pocket. And even though Lou had gotten used to seeing him with a deep frown of frustration and concern all over his face, the man in front of her was unmistakably Ames White.

"Nice to see you, _Lou_" he seemed to particularly stress the last word.

"Oh, nice to see you've gotten over your fear of calling things by their proper name" she said, looking up at him with difficulty as the two Familiars had taken it on forcing her down again and firmly locked her hands behind her back.

"Let's see how long it takes you to lose your sense of humor under torture" he said turning his back to her and looking out the window in the pitch dark.

"Was she alone?" Ames White addressed Beavus and Butthead.

They silently nodded, not releasing Lou from their pressure for one second.

"Tell the others to keep an eye out for anything that looks suspicious. The kind of filth we have to deal with _never_ travels alone" he warned his men absentmindedly tapping his injured leg.

Then, looking down on Lou he added:

"Let's get down to business, shall we?"

"I'd really love to, but don't I have to be wearing one your black robes first?" Lou spoke with the fakest smile she could manage given the uncomfortable position she was in.

White quickly glanced at his men and they immediately responded by violently throwing Lou forward. She knew that if she hadn't placed her hands in front of her, she might've had a bump on her forehead!

"Hasn't your Mama ever told you that you should share with other kids? Fine, keep your black robes! I'll play Harry Potter with my friends"

Before she could even try to get up, White had grabbed her arm, yanked her to her feet and dragged her into a room hidden behind a dusty shabby curtain.

"That is if you ever see them again" White spoke in a voice that sent shivers down Lou's spine.

-------------------

Standing on the western side of the castle, Zack kept an overall watch over his soldier's progression.

He was well aware of the plan not being a 100 sure for any of them; but remaining in constant contact with all of the others made it feel safer... for all of the others, except Lou.

Noah and Max geared up in their black cat suits were taking advantage of the dim light provided by torches, located here and there, and the Familiar's obviously less enhanced night vision.

The two female X5s were successfully hiding in the shadows and blurring when having the pass through a slightly more lighted area, each of them heading for their own objective.

It was easy for Zack to keep an eye on either of them, as well as on the southern and northern guard (Alec still being the eastern) as he walked back and forth the western round way.

Any change in the attitude of the guards and he would easily notice it... any change, like a stop in pacing and a stare at the opposite roof.

"Noah, North staring right at you. Think he only saw something moving. Hold still"

The shadow that was Noah's did as ordered and hid in a cavity of the ancient roof.

"Max whatever you have to do that might be catchy, you wanna do it now, while the guards attention's on Noah'

"Got it"

Zack looked down in the inner court, at the entrance of the keep.

A black form popped out of the shadows and blurred onto the keeper, dragging him inside.

The northern guard's attention was still on Noah and the southern one had also caught the change in his brother's attitude.

"Alec? I need you to play along with me but remain in position"

"Sure thing"

Southern Familiar looked towards Zack AKA Western Familiar, as in looking for a confirmation that something was located on the roof of the southern private apartments.

Zack shook his head and pointed at the entrance of the keep where seconds ago, Max had been attacking the keeper. Now all that Familiars could notice was the absence of that keeper.

The two Familiars nodded and one followed Zack as he climbed down the stairs in the inner court and to the now unguarded keep's entrance.

"Noah, you're clear. Resume to the objective" Zack heard Alec tell Noah.

His plan had worked.

-------------------

The keeper's body spread in the corner of the room, Max proceeded further into the keep. No doubt that there would be other guards but she had the element of surprise.

Max couldn't help but notice how old fashioned the Familiars were. They obviously hadn't any kind of equipment to communicate with each other, unlike the FBI agents White was used to working with; and the only light in the castle was provided by torch lights which had only facilitated Max's progress until now.

Hell, had she been expecting a possible hostage rescue situation, she would've placed spot lights everywhere, make sure that every corner was illuminated – not that she needed it, of course. Cat's vision was as efficient as any Hollywood spot light.

Obviously, White still underestimated them and that was exactly the kind of advantage they desperately needed in this suicidal mission!

-------------------

Being dragged by Beavus and Butthead had been uncomfortable enough but having your entire weight being held up by your hands that happened to be attached to chains hanging from the ceiling was somehow worse.

Ideal position for the torturer though, Lou had to give Ames White credit for that.

She had neither shoes nor jumper and goose bumps were spreading across her skin; whether it was from cold or fear didn't matter all that much, she was too numb to feel anything.

Lou didn't even know if her parents were still alive... hell, she didn't even know if the others had managed to get in! Would Zack say that it was hopeless, that they would all get caught and die? Would the others obey?

Lou could just picture Max and Noah complaining and arranging their own escape plan... and Lou hoped that they wouldn't. She hoped they would all leave this country, the sooner, the better; so that Max could go back to Logan, that Zack and Noah could stay together and that Alec... Well, Alec... would probably find some girl to spend the night with, like the stupid git he was!

Her head was loosely dangling to the side and Lou no longer kept any track of time whatsoever. Whether she had been here for an hour or a month made no difference to her.

The important thing was that White was pissed, extremely pissed and that he had been for several long months. But the difference now, was that he had someone to take out all his fury on.

She was trying to think about happy memories, to curl up in her own mind so as not to feel anything. But she did feel that one or several elements beneath the skin of her stomach weren't where they were, anatomically speaking, supposed to be and she also did smell-the smell of her own dried blood.

White was now pacing; mumbling things that she no longer felt like listening because she couldn't focus hard enough on the sound of his voice. All she could make out was a background noise, like an annoying buzzing bee... a killing buzzing bee in this case.

The only thing she knew for sure was that he was having the best of time right now.

Oh-no, the bee had stopped buzzing and was now getting down to killing.

White's own pacing had led him a little away from her but it seemed like the distance that he had allowed between their two bodies was intolerable.

He rushed back towards her, limping with his clutches and Lou knew that if he could blur he would have. But that didn't matter either; her entire vision was blurry now.

Lou jolted at the connection between her jaw and White's strong fist. Her head bounced against the wall for the zillionth time and then went back to dangling in front of her.

She felt the warm texture and metallic taste of blood flow through her mouth. Her feet were loosely hanging above the floor, not even touching it.

Had prisoners been expected to be taller in the past times when this castle was considered more than a historical monument?

Nah, Lou doubted that back then, there had even been a torture chamber behind a chapel!

Those were the thoughts running through her mind as White's hands and legs made contact with her body over and over again, causing every inch of her body to bruise a little more as it hit the wall over and over again.

-------------------

He was having a hard time dissimulating the hyper excitement boiling inside of him. This was his very first important mission for the Conclave. He had had the honor of meeting Ames White earlier; a man filled with determination and an authority that had immediately owed him Thomas' respect.

Thomas was young, very young; turning eighteen next month. And yet, here he was surrounded by Familiars that had many more years of experience than he had.

Thomas was well aware that the only reason he was in this castle, was because his father was a respected and honorable member of the Conclave. Thomas would make sure to honor his father and the family name tonight.

He had never seen any real transgenic but Ames White had warned them that they were bound to see a few of them tonight. Maybe even the legendary 452!

Thomas had thought he had caught a glance of something moving on the roof; something moving like a cat but too big to actually be one.

But obviously, 'western brother' had seen something more important than a shadow: the disappearance of the keeper while all four of them had been staring at a point on the roof.

Thomas really thought he had seen something but now he blamed himself for attracting all his older brothers' attention on a shadow when something obviously more important had been taking place.

That's why he had followed 'western brother' to the keep where the prisoners were being held.

It was probably nothing; the Familiar in charge of guarding the keep's entrance was a great warrior, a little lazy but still a great warrior that had many times proved he was worthy of being a member of the Phalanx, the elite of their warrior breeding line.

However, he had never been accepted; his lack of discipline and disdain for authority being the major drawbacks.

Thomas knew he was surrounded by important Familiars from all over England but he was absolutely unable to tell them apart; knowing them only by name and exploits, plus, the hooded black robes, no matter how traditionally creepy, didn't allow you to see your brother's face.

The Familiar that was accompanying him - Thomas had no idea who it could be and wasn't about to ask either – hadn't addressed a word to him.

One thing they taught you in boarding school was not to ask questions to your elders. And Thomas was pretty sure that none of the Familiars in this Fortress were under 25.

The Familiar with him, Thomas had decided to now refer to him as 'western brother', stepped into the keep. He tagged along, accelerating his pace to keep up with his elder.

Once in, 'western brother's hood circled the room and froze at the right corner. Thomas saw him walk over to where the unanimated keeper's body was.

'Western brother' checked his pulse but Thomas knew that the Familiar was dead.

"We... we should go get help" Thomas stammered.

"No" was the cold firm response he got.

'Western brother' got back to his feet and walked further into the keep. Thomas could do nothing but follow.

On their way, they found a couple of more bodies belonging to their brothers. Obviously, the opponent had had the advantage of surprise. Transgenic or not, Thomas had been told that no one could have the physical advantage over their pain-proof bodies.

They heard muffled sounds: hits and screams.

'Western brother' quickened his pace and Thomas followed once again.

They arrived in the room containing the prisoner's cells and Thomas couldn't help that his mouth drop open behind his black hood.

A female with long dark strands of hair falling in her face was on top of a Familiar.

The Familiar was facing the ground and she had one foot firmly applied to his back, and her two hands twisting his arm which already was at a funny angle.

The Familiar wasn't groaning, let alone screaming. Thomas knew he probably wasn't feeling anything but in combat, a broken arm could turn out to be a disadvantage.

Thomas knew it instantly; he felt it that that girl was 452. And he was caught between, total awe and total panic.

She looked up at him; released the Familiar's arm and smashed his head against the stony ground with her foot.

Thomas took a step back but felt a strong grip on his shoulder.

He turned around in apprehension to face 'western brother' who had drawn back his hood. And Thomas knew instantly as he looked at the blonde hair and the blue eyes that 'western brother' wasn't a Familiar.

-------------------

"Noah, get Lou out of there now" she heard Zack speak in her earpiece.

Right, now that's gonna be the tricky part.

Noah had managed to get off the private apartment's roof to the siding chapel's roof. She had then slipped in via an open widow – not that these old castles held any glass windows anyway.

The chapel seemed empty but Noah had been drawn into a room hidden by heavy shabby curtains by Lou's screams.

She had peeped behind the curtain and seen her baby sister held up by chains and White in the middle of a torture session when Zack had ordered her to retrieve Lou.

Piece of cake, she thought sarcastically, if only, I could-

"WHAT?? WHAT ARE THESE?"

Oops, he's found the runes on Lou's body.

As a matter of fact, after bruising her sister's stomach, White was now ripping off her tank top to have more access to the runes.

He put his fingers on her already sensitized flesh and pressed on her stomach harder than required. Lou screamed in pain and White kept applying even more pressure on her broken ribs to keep her in place.

"Looks like Sandeman thought that stopping the coming was a two women's job. One more reason to kill you. 452 won't be able to do anything alone but I'll get to-"

Ames White spun around and came face to face with Noah who had crept behind him while he was letting out all his anger on Lou.

"I never make the same mistake twice" he spoke coldly.

"Guess I underestimated you"

His whole body weight resting on his valid leg, he swung one of his crutches at her. Noah jumped forward, eluding the blow and landed on White.

They rolled on the floor and though Noah landed on top, her knees on each side of White and her hands dangerously closed to his throat, she didn't have the advantage.

White had drawn out his gun and the barrel was aimed right at her chest.

He pressed the trigger without a second thought.

Noah arched her back, her head making contact with the stony ground. Without pulling herself back up, she raised her hand, swiped the gun from White, sending it across the room and behind the curtain.

The upper part of her back still resting against the ground, she pushed on her elbows and turned her legs around. Her two feet as one connected with White's jaw.

His head slammed against the stone and he seemed stunned for a few minutes; that was all she needed.

She leaped to her feet and freed Lou from her chains.

Lou fell heavily to the floor, her legs unable to carry her.

Noah put an arm around her waist, trying not to press too hard against the broken ribs. They started making for the curtain but Noah hadn't noticed that White had recovered.

He couldn't get up because of his injured leg but his arms were intact. He grabbed his crutch and aimed a strong blow at the two girls.

Noah managed to push Lou to the side so that she wouldn't suffer from the hit.

'Posh X5' stumbled because she couldn't stand on her own but managed to find support from the wall.

Noah fell because White's crutch smashed into her stomach, blowing all the air out of her lungs.

Pushing up on her elbows she looked at White; he was in a similar stance without neither gun nor crutches.

She jumped on him once again and they launched into another wrestling session, punches and hits mixed all together.

Suddenly, Noah felt her opponent's grip mellow and a second later, she has holding White's unanimated body.

She looked at him questioningly and noticed that the side of his head was bleeding.

She looked up at Lou and saw her sister holding White's crutch. Lou had probably aimed straight at the Familiar's temple causing him to faint.

"Nice" Noah said out of breath.

"Bastard" Lou croaked weakly, her entire weight resting on the crutch.

-------------------

Her pace and Zack's were quick, a little too quick for Mr. and Mrs. Wilson; which gave the impression that they were being mistreated: desired effect.

Zack was still wearing his hooded robe and Max had slipped on Thomas' who was now fast asleep in the prisoner's cell. Way to honor the family's name!

From any external eye the scene would've appeared the following: two Familiars hurrying the prisoners across the inner court and out of the castle via the guarded drawbridge.

Yep, that was her number one preoccupation for the moment: the guarded bridge.

Zack was leading and hopefully he had a plan.

"Brother, where are you going with the prisoners?" Beavus or maybe Butthead asked.

"The location has been compromised, we have been ordered to evacuate the prisoners and take them back to HQ" Zack spoke in a successful British accent.

Beavus (Butthead?) seemed to be taking quite some time to think this over and Max held her breath.

"Nobody's warned us"

"Look brother, we're just doing what we're told"

"Who gave you the order?"

"Came directly from White"

-------------------

_Ok, let's sum this up._

_I have an unable-to-walk X5 clinging at my arm, so climbing is out of the question._

_We can't go down because Familiars are all over the place. Chances that we can get back the way I came from are... non existent._

_We can't go up, neither can we go down... think positive Noah._

Nights are cold in Northern England and still Noah felt a drop of sweat run along the side of her face. This was not good.

She looked around her, saw the northern east corner tower of the castle and got the craziest idea.

"Hey, guys?" she spoke in her earpiece, "any luck for a diversion here?"

"Hey I'm bored" came Alec's reply.

-------------------

Still wearing his black hooded robe, Alec stretched his arms and cracked his vertebras.

_Now we're talking. _

He had closely followed Zack's progress in and out of the keep with who he guessed was Max and the Wilsons. They were at the drawbridge and would surely be out in seconds.

He wasn't worried about them, he was even gonna speed things up and turn all the spot lights on him.

That black robe was really itchy when you thought of it, might as well, strip it off.

As he did so, he saw the Familiar guarding the Northern side of the castle give him a funny look.

Alec tilted his head to the side and waved at him. Then, he jumped over the low stone wall and landed softly and quietly in the inner court.

He knew several Familiars had spotted him by now and he rushed towards the drawbridge, knowing they would all follow like nice little doggies.

Zack and Max had gotten past the guards peacefully but he didn't intend to.

The guards weren't looking at the inside of the castle when Alec pushed them out of his way; they had been looking at Zack, Max and the prisoners reaching the border of the forest.

-------------------

Finding out where it hurt most was impossible. Tiny little pricks sent dull, regular flashes of pain in everyone of her limb.

Her entire body felt exhausted, like it had given everything it had to give. And that was a sensation Lou had never experienced in all her years of training.

Noah was talking... but not to her... and not to herself either...

It was something about the northern east corner tower...

Lou felt she was in one big bubble and everything going on around her took quite some time to get through that bubble: Noah's words, her vision which was blurry and even sensations... everything seemed like it was out of time.

Noah was talking again but Lou could only make out a few words: climb... tower, jump... huh?

Noah started making signs... oh, that helped a lot.

Ok, so that was: I climb down the tower and you jump.

Lou would've jumped off a cliff in the dazed state she was in. Was it like this feeling high? She swore herself never to try, but would she even remember that promise?

-------------------

"Alec? What the hell are you doing? You're drawing all the Familiars to us!" Max yelled as soon as Alec joined them in the forest.

"That was the point. Noah asked for a diversion, didn't she?"

"Yeah, well, I got the feeling you're trying too hard. Noah won't be that impressed to know that you got us killed"

"Relax Maxie, everything's under control"

Everything was under control except for the several Familiars rushing out of the castle after the transgenics and the Wilsons.

A physical encounter was now inevitable.

Zack and Max revealed their faces, taking off their hooded robes.

The three of them still benefited from the cover of the trees which allowed them to see their opponents coming without being seen.

The Wilsons were peeping from behind the trees as well but that didn't make them safe one bit. The transgenics were outnumbered and no longer had the advantage of surprise.

Zack stood between Max and Alec, slightly forward. The Familiars were getting closer every second.

"Ok, now we go for plan B"

"Really, I thought Alec blowing up our cover was plan B" Max said sarcastically.

"Oh, come on Max. What was I supposed to do? Dress up and do the hula?"

"You need to learn the difference between 'diversion' and 'being a complete show off'" she snapped never taking her eyes off the Familiars closing up.

"Well what would you have done, your Crankiness? Perhaps you would've-"

"-gone to the girls and the car parked on the east side while you", Zack said pointing at Alec, "get the Wilsons to the second car parked on the west side and then come back and get me"

"What? We're having a communication problem here" Alec frowned.

"We're gonna be experiencing a whole lot more than that if you two don't shut up and get to plan B"

"Plan B which you've never explained to us" Max noted.

"I just did" he said putting himself in a fighting stance, ready to burst out of the forest and beat some Familiar's ass.

"I'm not letting you fight off all those Familiars by yourself" Max complained.

"You don't have a choice. Noah and Lou need your help now"

"There's too many of them, you don't stand a chance"

"Watch me go"

-------------------

Thank god he had been the one to park the car on the west side; otherwise he never would've been able to find it so quickly.

And that would've come as a bit of a problem as the Wilson couple was already panting behind him.

Alec checked that they hadn't been followed as he opened the car's door for Mr. and Mrs. Wilson to get in.

He still had his earpiece on as he sat behind the wheel and started the engine.

"Where's our daughter?" Mrs. Wilson asked.

Those were the first words Alec heard her speak and he was thrown aback by the softness of her voice.

He turned to look at her in the eyes. The Wilsons were probably about fifteen years older than Lou's parents would have been if she hadn't been created in a lab.

But Mrs. Wilson's face, though frowned in worry, showed an extreme indulgence and kindness. The expression he would've pictured on his ideal mother.

"She's with Noah, Max's taking care of them. Don't worry" he said sincerely.

Mrs. Wilson sat back, knowing that the young X5 wouldn't give her any more information and Alec turned the car around in the direction they had come from. Now was time to go get Zack.

Alec knew the guy was strong, stronger than any of them since his last visit in Manticore. They were all genetically enhanced but Zack was less human than any of them, anatomically speaking.

Renfro had made sure of that.

Alec hoped Zack was as strong as all the trangenics believed he was. Sure he had seen the guy in training and it was all rather impressive, but how was he going to fight off nearly twenty Familiars.

Alec stepped on the gas while he caught words spoken by Noah and Max in his earpiece.

"Noah? Where are you guys? I can't get too close, they'll see the car"

"We're not exactly out yet"

"Well where are you?"

"I can't talk right now" Noah paused, "Come on, come on Lou, you can do it, come on"

It sounded like she was encouraging Lou to do something but what?

"Yeah, that's it" Noah said, "Now jump!"

"Noah what are you talking about? I thought you girls were in the northern east corner tower?"

"Jump Lou! Hurry up!" Noah said ignoring Max.

"Noah? Do you have any idea how high that damned tower is? Lou'll split her head open!" Alec said as he understood what Noah was encouraging Lou to do.

Suddenly, he realized the incredibly still atmosphere in the car.

He turned around.

Mr. and Mrs. Wilson were curled up against one another, looking really pale.

"It's gonna all right. Noah knows what she's doing" he said in forced tense smile, "At least I hope so" he added to himself, turning his attention back to the road.

"Nice to hear you say so" Noah spoke in his earpiece, "I thought you had doubted my judgment for a minute there"

"Me? Doubt you? How could that even cross your mind? How's Lou - oh, never mind, Familiars in sight" Alec said stepping on the gas and running the cult member off the road.

He had reached the side of the forest where he had last seen Zack.

The Familiar flying over the car's roof led Alec to two perspicacious conclusions: one, Zack was still there and two, from now on, Alec would do anything NOT to get on his bad side.

Alec took advantage of his big engine to roll over a few other Familiars. He took an abrupt turn that caused Mrs. Wilson to gasp.

As the car stopped, someone broke the window on Alec's side.

The X5 closed his eyes to protect them from the broken glass as he kicked his car's door open violently, guessing where the Familiar was standing.

The Familiar was propelled backwards and finished his flight into a tree.

"Zack, this party sucks, let's bail!" Alec yelled over the screams.

Zack turned his face at him and nodded.

Next second, X5 599 took a strong left right above the cheek and when he turned to face his adversary, the Familiar held back a gasp of surprise.

The punch had revealed a gray metallic material on Zack's cheek, proof of the experiments Renfro had been running on him.

Alec saw Zack take advantage of his enemy's surprise and snap his neck.

Alec closed the door and started the car once again.

He drove as fast as he could past Zack.

Seconds later, he heard a loud bumping noise on the car's roof, caused by the arrival of a heavy weight.

"Mr. Wilson?" he asked casually never letting his eyes off the road, "Would you be so kind as to open to passenger seat's window please? My two hands are rather full at the moment"

As a matter of fact, Alec was having a hard time, driving as fast as he could and avoiding the many trees in his path at the same time.

As soon as Mr. Wilson fell back in his seat after opening the window, Zack slid down into the passenger's seat heavily.

"Ok, people I've got Zack. How's it going on your side?"

"Perfect. I've got Noah and Lou... each in one piece" Max added.

-------------------

Barely had they stepped foot in Wilson Manor then they were already driving to a hotel. Max booked three hotel rooms and paid with a credit card Logan had given her.

Once they were safe, she picked up the phone and started booking flights for the next day.

"How's she doing?" Zack asked Noah nudging at Lou.

"Well, she'll live... with several broken ribs, a broken arm, a sprained ankle and a hundred and two bruises" Noah weakly smirked.

Lou was laying on one of the beds, her mother holding her hand now that Noah had finished taking care of her baby sister with the little Field Med she knew.

"I booked the flights" Max said hanging up the phone, "Will she be fit to travel tomorrow evening?"

"I dunno" Noah shrugged.

"What's going to happen now?" Lou asked weakly.

"Well, Logan got your parents and William new IDs along with brand new lives. And we're heading home" she concluded.

"I can't go back"

"Why not?"

"Because Lydecker won't want me back"

"You didn't think he was serious, did you? He was just bluffing... to scare you off!" Noah said.

"Besides, he can't go against our will and we want you back" Zack said firmly.

Lou sighed heavily and sadly.

"Don't worry" Alec said sitting on the bed next to her, "The old man will be so glad to have you back, your little argument will be all forgotten"

"I doubt it" Lou said grimly.

"I'd like to thank all four of you for what you've done for our family" Lillian Wilson spoke softly.

Until then, Max hadn't really paid attention to her and she realized that she was far from being an older version of 'Posh X5'. She looked kind and gentle and even... generous. The ideal mother, really. She seemed to be able to bear Lou's every change of mood with a constant and sincere smile.

"Mom, they helped us cuz they're family too"

"You're right honey. They _are_ family" she said looking at each of the X5s, "Anyone of them could've crossed our path instead of you"

"If you lov'em so much, why don't you just adopt'em all?" Lou frowned.

However, Lillian seemed to seriously consider the idea as she looked lost in her thoughts, perhaps imagining Wilson Manor filled with furry little kids.

"Yeah, well I can just picture you with your friends: 'Hi guys! Meet Mole, my distant related lizard-man cousin'. Now wouldn't that just be a moment to immortalize?" Alec scoffed.

"Speaking of human" Mr. Wilson intervened for the first time.

He was rubbing his three day beard; a sign of discomfort.

He finally looked up to Zack and said:

"I really don't mean to be rude but um... _what_ are you exactly?"

Zack's fingers rubbed his cheek at the exact place where the Familiar had revealed the metal that lay beneath his skin.

An awkward silence filled the room and Mr. Wilson thought that, for a retired ambassador, he hadn't shown much diplomacy on that one.

"Well, let's just say that Zack is a soldier, a real one that wasn't afraid to give up his heart twice, literally" Max said touching her chest where she could feel Zack's heart beat, "and then metaphorically" she added smiling at Noah, "Let's just say that when you're with Zack, you know that nothing can ever happen to you"

Mr. Wilson didn't seem to quite get it all, but he remained quiet nonetheless and seemed satisfied with Max's explanation as he nodded.

Zack seemed to look a little embarrassed as all eyes were on him, he grunted something like:

"Well, if that were true, Lou wouldn't be in such a bad state"

The diversion had the effect wanted as all eyes turned on a peacefully sleeping Lou.

"She looks fine to me" Alec smirked still sitting on the side of the bed.

-------------------

**End of Chapter**

You hated? You loved? It was Ok but at some point something happened that you wouldn't have let happen? You thought this scene was unnecessary?

Praise or flames, whatever may come I take...places her hand on her forehead in what she hopes is a most successful and graceful theatrical sigh


	8. So little answers

**Title: **…Happily Ever After

**Author: **Roxy

**Beta Reader: **Rose

**Category: **Action, Humor and Romance. (M/L)

**Rating: **PG 13

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee. I don't own Dark Angel, though Noah and Lou do belong to me. I am making no money out of this.

**Summary: **This is my hit at a 3rd season. Max and the others are trapped in TC, surrounded by White's men. A new little sister comes along. Deck reappears (isn't he just our favorite bad guy?). X5s reunion. More Familiars and how to deal with them.

**Previous Chapter: **White and his Familiars have tracked down Lou's parents. Follows: Harsh argument between Deck and Lou; Zack, Max, Alec and Noah make a trip to England with their baby sister and manage to get Mr. and Mrs. Wilson back. Not without physical damage, still the dream team is back on American land.

**Feedback: **Beta babe did quick this time, didn't she? Less than a month after the last update… yeah well, she's taken on time on her thanksgiving break so… About the chapter, not much action in this one, sorry. Thought you had enough in the last one ;-) Next one will be full of it too as EO gets back in the game. In this chapter, I chose to focus on inner turmoil, feeling, emotion, passion! Little inner facility intrigues! Yes, I was in a soap opera mood when I wrote this :p

_Black Rose 9_: As always, you're the first one to review… I'll probably never thank you enough for your support. Glad you like Noah. She was the main character in my other fic but in HEA she's only a secondary character so sometimes, I have troubles with her; trying not to let her character "die out" or become part of the setting and then at the same time, not making her become too important. Your question about the Wilsons will be answered in the next few minutes so I won't spoil it for you. I do make a mean White but I love Deck's character. He's complex, determined and obstinate. He seems to be his own worst enemy.

_Katie_: Welcome! Yey a new reader! Keep reviewing girl!

_BlueAngel137: _Welcome to you too and thank you for reviewing! Glad you enjoyed the action… I thought there might've been a bit too much but then you know what they say; too much of anything is just perfect! Lol! Not much action in this chapter though, I'll make it up to you in the coming one promise! Glad you like the dialogs, that's what I have the most fun writing. Sometimes, I just laugh in front of my screen as some scenes are taking place… then I stop and realize that A) it's completely arrogant and pretentious to be enjoying your own work so much and B) laughing in front of a computer all by yourself is just something so pathetic to do lol! Keep reviewing as well!

_Big Edna: _Review fast this time; my nerves can't take the waiting lol! I still don't know what you like best, action filled chapters, smutty and fluffy ones, or ones filled with witty remarks and animated dialogs? I know I get bored with too much action really quick.

**-------------------**

…**. Happily Ever After**

**Chapter VII: … So little answers**

"Well, I guess its goodbye newly Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Adams" Lou said her words muffled in her mother's embrace.

Yes, it was good bye.

Mr. Wilson had already shook hands with all X5s: promising the boys that next time he saw them, he would lend Zack his entire Star Wars collection, and would allow Alec to drive _any_ car in his entire and rather rare collection.

Zack had beamed like a little boy who'd just been promised a collection of GI Joes for Christmas ("All nine episodes Noah! Can you believe it?"; "Hardly") and Alec had declared he wanted to be adopted right away.

"Now come on Lillian, you're gonna have to let go of her or we'll miss our plane" Mr. Wilson said facing his wife still clutching their daughter.

But Mrs. Wilson ignored her husband and kept on passing her fingers through Lou's hair; they were both whispering indistinguishable things to each other… things that seemed quite funny considering their muffled laughs.

William Barnum Deice took a step forward. Logan had provided new papers for him as well and he was on his way to South Africa with the Wilsons and drooling Donald on that same day.

"I had quite some time on my hands, so I thought I'd make these" he said displaying several boxes in front of him.

Alec sniffed the air like the starving cat that he was.

"Nice to know that while we were wrestling against members of a whacky cult, you've kept yourself busy William"

Noah elbowed him and took the boxes filled with delicious food from William's hands.

"Thank you William"

"You're welcome Miss Noah" he politely lowered his head.

"You know what William Barnum Deice butler to the Wilson family? I could get used to a guy like you" Alec smirked.

"Lillian, honey, we should really board the plane now" Mr. Wilson said, "It's not like our private jet, there are _other people_ on this flight"

"Yes, George, I know" Mrs. Wilson sighed exasperatedly.

"Besides, hugging her like that, what do you think her little friends are going to think of her afterwards?"

"Why yes, Lou after this we could call you a whiny kiddo" Alec smirked.

"Shut up Alec" Lou said in an American accent.

"Honey, as long as I'm here, could you remain polite please?" Lillian frowned.

"Of course Mom, forgive me" Lou said in a British accent and with a fake smile, she turned towards Alec and added, "Alec? Could you please keep that wonderfully annoying trap located right under your noise forever locked in my presence? Thank you. How was that?" she added, turning back to her mother.

"Perfect honey" Mrs. Wilson answered tenderly.

"Come on Lillian, we're late. Good bye Lou" Mr. Wilson said hugging his daughter.

"Well, that would certainly be the first time in your entire life that being late has ever been a problem for you"

"I fail to see what you're referring to Lillian" Mr. Wilson played blonde.

"Oh, come on George. You've been late _all_ your life" she said as they walked away.

"Would you happen to have any examples backing up that theory honey?" Mr. Wilson said kindly following her.

"Why yes, as a matter of fact, I do. Remember that important day in your life? I believe it was the day, I was wearing that puffy white dress that made me look like a giant meringue and you arrived nearly an hour and half after you were supposed to. Leaving me and your parents dreadfully worried, not to mention my parents who thought you were going to leave me standing at the altar and-"

"That was nearly an exception! You know how alarm clocks always fail you when they're least supposed to"

"George honey, it didn't fail you; you didn't hear it ring, it's more like the other way around. Just like for that appointment at the dentist last month which I'm quite sure you skipped on purpose"

"Bloody hell Lillian, that's exactly like you to make an appointment on Saturdays!"

"You were busy every other day of the week!" she turned to the four X5s and waved one last time.

"Well maybe but I don't need to go to the dentist!"

"Oh yes you do and you will! I shall drag you by those three hairs stubbornly remaining on your skull if I have to!"

"Lillian! … And I have more than three hairs on my skull"

"Whatever you have to tell yourself George"

And Lou stood there, listening to her bickering parents' voices fade away, a sad smile on her face and tear pearling at the corner of her eye.

_-------------------_

They were back.

They were back and he hadn't thrown them away. How could he?

When Zack, Noah, Max and Alec had returned with a deeply injured Lou, all the others had gathered up around them as if to stand up to him. Lydecker hadn't intended to banish Lou anyway, he had said that out of anger but, as far as the rest were concerned – her lack of discipline, of responsibility, her stubbornness at acting with her heart rather than her mind – he _had_ meant it.

All those features could be found in every element of this facility. They all had it in them, that human weakness, that human failure. He had suffered from it too and it had led him right to another deeper weakness: alcohol. It was like a vicious circle.

You had to show incredible bravery, stamina and toughness to get out of it. But it was best never to fall into it and _that_ was what Lydecker had wanted for his kids.

He had tried to get it out of them. It would just make it easier if they didn't have to deal with feelings and such. He had been tough, especially on X5s and they had run away. He had done things to them that were… unforgivable: torture, tyranny, even murder… all that because he _knew_.

He knew what it was like to loose the one and only thing you live for, the one and only thing that matters, that gets you through the day, but soldiers aren't supposed to have such things. The only thing that must keep a soldier going is the mission and its success.

Lydecker had wanted to show them that, to make them understand that, to spare them the grief of loosing their purpose in life. He might have succeeded; who knows what would have happened if a group of X5s hadn't escaped back in 09?

He might have had it all; all that he had dreamt for them and the professional recognition for him… who knew?

However, now that he looked around him. He saw no trace of it.

Max couldn't keep going without Logan. Lou missed her parents and acted like a spoiled little princess. Maybe the reason why she was the most disappointing subject was because she had been raised like a normal child? Maybe it had been easier for her to forget about her training because she had escaped so young? She had only been five.

Hell, Zack had been ten and look at him! Lydecker wondered how Zack would react if Noah was to die in battle. He would be just as miserable as any plain, average, common ordinary male. He would probably react like Lydecker had once done himself.

Syl and Krit hadn't shown much more sense, but then he could've seen that coming!

Had it all been for nothing then? His dreams hadn't come true; his hopes hadn't been taken into account… but what about Sandeman's? What had he really had in mind?

The so called genius of his times had caused trouble twenty years ago and just when Lydecker had thought that he was over and done with him, one of the bastard's little plans had launched under his very nose… the runes.

_-------------------_

Lou liked when people fussed all over her, like her parents and William always did at home, but hospital employees are not always fussing in the nice term of the word.

They show no interest in you unless you're on the verge of passing out. Lou was maybe in a bad state, but her genetically enhanced stem cells were already kicking in and her days were far from being counted… unless of course, boredom could kill.

She wasn't about to rush things to return to training, though… No way! But she was really lonely and it had only been a few hours since they had arrived and Lydecker had made them his warm welcome.

Not that Lou had expected him to receive her with open arms and a pack of home made chocolate chip cookies! Maybe the fact that he hadn't thrown her right back out was a good sign… maybe.

Well she hadn't exactly apologized either for the horrible things she had told him:

_"Were you always this cold, this dead inside? I don't know how you even turned into the cold hearted bastard that you are!"_

That hadn't been a very nice thing to say and even if, at the time, she hadn't controlled the words coming out of her mouth because she had been so angry, had it been anybody else than Lydecker, she already would've said that she hadn't meant a single word of it…

But it _was_ Lydecker. And maybe if it had been anyone else, she wouldn't have gotten that angry.

Sure she was a spoiled brat, and she liked it that way, but Lou didn't think of herself as mean.

There was a knock on the door and Alec's head peered inside her room.

"Room service" he said in a high pitched voice.

"About time too! I'm missing a fluffy pillow and what the hell are your blankets made of? Wood? They're as rough as my grand father's feet! And I've also asked for a hot chocolate and that was over ten minutes ago" Lou said in her princess tone.

Alec stepped in, smirking and came to sit on the side of her bed.

"So, how's it going kiddo?"

"Take a wild guess" Lou said lifting her plastered arm.

"I'd say you look as big a pain in the ass as ever"

"Why thank you, and how would you describe yourself?"

"God's gift to women of course!" Alec snorted cockily.

"Really?" Lou looked him up and down and true, he was fine but she'd die of a horrible and painful death before ever admitting it, "I didn't expect God to send a gift so…"

"So charming?" Alec smirk widened somehow.

"No, that's not the word" Lou shook her head.

"So irresistible?"

"Nope"

"So crowd generating?"

"No, I'd say… so esthetically challenged" Lou's smile broadened while Alec's froze.

"As politically correct as ever I can see" he simply noted and Lou mentally marked the score.

"My mother taught me well. Where are the others?"

"Noah and Zack have just got out. Max's still in for a little bonus apparently"

"Yes, I've overheard the nurses talking about it"

An awkward silence fell between them. A silence filled with uneasiness and seriousness.

"So, what are you still doing here if you're clear? Haven't you got thousands of demanding female transgenics to satisfy?"

"I might've. But I'm working on a new approach"

"Which is?" Lou inquired.

"Building up anticipation" he wriggled his brow in a meaningful way.

"I'd have said skipping training more like it"

"Well, our dear Deck has locked himself in his office and refuses to see anyone… Looks like your hero return has left him at a loss for words"

"I have _not_ returned as a hero"

"True, I'm the hero and you guys helped a little"

"Yeah, well you weren't the one who was being tortured by White, were you?" Lou said moodily.

The last thing she needed was memories of _that_.

"No, but you seem fine; like I said, as big a pain in the ass as ever. Looks like that trip to England did you a lot of good"

"Really? Doesn't look much like it from here!" Lou said looking down at her broken ribs and stroking them.

"These look fine to me" Alec smirked, eyeing a part of her body above her ribs.

Lou snatched her arms over her breasts, looking outraged.

"Alec, how dare you!"

"Yeah, that's what they all say at first" Alec shrugged.

"Get the hell outta my sight!"

"Whatever you want" he said as if she had just suggested skipping to the black leather suits, handcuffs and whip.

Lou opened her mouth but wasn't able to form any words; she found that she couldn't even glare at him. Alec stood up, very much amused.

"See you around kiddo" he wriggled his brow again and left.

Lou remained alone in her room, arms still clutched around herself, lower lip dropped.

_Annoying mangy git!_

He just never knew when enough was enough, did he? What did he think she was? Another one of those females demanding for him to satisfy her?

_Dream on golden boy!_

She was trying to be irritated but she couldn't repress the smile that was twitching the corners of her lips.

_-------------------_

Legs bent, eyes quickly flicking from here to there back to here, covering every corner of the empty hall like spotlights, ears chasing the slightest noise that would betray a human presence, Noah was slowly progressing back to her room.

Maybe he had given up by now? But better safe than sorry, right?

She had walked out of the hospital wing and he had been there; she had stepped out of Lydecker's office and he had been there; she had went earlier to dinner and STILL THERE, with his pleading blue eyes and his worried boyish smile.

_God Logan, get a life that doesn't involve harassing me to find out where your girlfriend is!_

Truth was; Noah _did_ know the reason why Max had been held up with Lou in the hospital wing. Nothing life threatening really, unless of course, Eyes Only was subject to heart attacks caused by surprises.

_Oh no, someone's coming from around the corner!_

Heavy footsteps: tall young man, Noah guessed.

Well at least that ruled out Lydecker and left out nearly the entire male population in this damn facility!

What were the chances for it not to be transgenic but a human? Very slight, but existent nonetheless, and that was enough for Noah to flatten against the cold wall, making an excellent imitation of the chased crab with an excess of feline DNA.

She held her breath. The steps were getting closer and they were coming her way; crab in apnea or not, the person would see her the second they turned around the corner.

_This is ridiculous really!_

She would simply tell Logan that she _still_ didn't know where Max was and that he should say, go harass Alec instead.

The person would be here any second now… _three, two, one, go!_

Noah grabbed the man by the throat and slammed him against the wall.

"Will you stop following me around? Look, I really don't know where she-Alec? What the hell are you doing here?"

The male X5 had raised both his arms in the surprise of Noah's attack and was now frowning in an expression that could be described as 'total incomprehension of the present situation'.

"What am I doing here? I didn't know this corridor belonged to you! Is this some other kind of trick? Cuz I swear I wasn't following you! I was just going to dinner!" he said defensively.

"Sorry" a slightly embarrassed Noah said letting him go, "I thought you were someone else"

Alec's facial expression went from confusion and panic back to its usual cockiness.

"Oh, I get it, don't tell me! You and Zack are into kinky role plays. I didn't think Zack'd be the kind of guy going for female domination"

Noah snorted, rolled her eyes but thought that she might as well play the game. Alec knew she'd be kidding and she had long ago understood that you had to beat him at his own game. So, she said:

"You have no idea" then, on a more serious tone she went on, "I was expecting Logan actually"

"Oh, I see, a threesome" Alec joked putting an arm around her shoulders, "Look Noah it's time for you to realize that you are a unique creature unlike any other and that you are worth way more than the silly little games Logan and Zack are making you play at. I, for one thing, can dedicate myself to helping you discover a whole new world-"

"-in which oh-so cherished parts of your body would be ripped off" Noah finished, lowering her voice and putting a finger on Alec's lips.

"My entire body is cherished by women all over the globe. Could you be a little bit more specific?" Alec gave her his trademark smirk.

_Doesn't he ever shut up?_

"Sure, let me give you hint. It starts with a 'b' and rhymes with '-alls'. Specific enough?"

"Noah" Alec said faking astonishment, "When have my sincere eyes ever offended?"

"I wasn't referring to your eyeballs Alec"

"Oh" Alec paused, musing, "I bet that would hurt"

"I bet it would" she replied with a morbid smile.

Then, walking away backwards so as to still face him, she winked at him:

"See ya around"

She then, gave him an all too clear sexy smile followed by a brief lifted eye brow, spun around and headed up to the X5s' rooms.

Once she had disappeared Alec faked a shiver before saying out loud:

"Ooh that woman!" and heading for the cafeteria.

-------------------

Ok, that was it!

She was tired of lying in bed! That was all she had been allowed to do ever since she had gotten back to the facility… enough was enough!

She was going to become claustrophobic if she stayed locked in this narrow room any longer.

"Remain still" the doctor had said.

But remaining still involved physical inertia and when your body isn't working, your mind automatically logs in. And then, once your mind's taken over, bad things start to happen because your mind likes to overload you with memories - which are not always mirthful – and questions which you don't have answers for and you don't care to answer for that matter. But your mind keeps on pounding them into your brain, making you _think_ they are important; at least that was Lou's theory on the question.

So, that was why she had come to the basic conclusion that hospital wing was synonymous of rubbing the fact that she wouldn't be able to see her parents anymore and that she had been tortured to near death; nope, she was not going to remain still to go through all that again.

Everyone considered her mentally traumatized, like they expected her to collapse any minute under the impact of her recent trip to England. But Lou would not give in to that!

They - her siblings and even the medical staff - were being so nice, too nice, it was making her sick.

For God's sake, she would be up and back in training in one or two weeks at the most. What was up with the whole 'don't breath too hard on Lou or she might break' attitude?

She was perfectly fine and she would show them just how tough she really was.

She had sneaked out of the hospital wing after slipping on a pair of socks - _Hello? Ever heard of thermal heating floor sensors? _- and pants, just because you're limping doesn't mean that every guy in the facility has the right to scope out your perfect made-in-Manticore butt, thank you very much.

Plus, the guy she was looking for would be sure to notice such details as her gown being open in the back; he was such a perverted specimen! And he had proved it once again a few hours earlier.

Yeah, maybe she did owe Alec apologies; she had been a little harsh but then he had been tactless. But that was just his attitude, wasn't it? Not that 'Posh X5' would _ever_ be caught in the act of apologizing. How very melodramatic!

Alec was probably at dinner which was the reason why she was limping towards the cafeteria. Maybe she should've borrowed clutches?

She came to a stop when she heard voices at the intersection between the corridor coming from the hospital wing, the one leading to the cafeteria and the stairs going up to the X5s' room.

"… into kinky role plays. I didn't think Zack'd be the kind of guy going for female domination"

"You have no idea"

Lou recognized the voices instantly: Alec and Noah.

'Posh X5' would've announced her presence at that very moment, if the conversation hadn't appeared _so_ interesting.

Besides, who had ever proven that it _really_ had been curiosity that'd killed the cat? I mean, he could've been poisoned or something? Lou told herself. Or maybe he met a bigger cat? Or maybe he just bailed with a female?

Anyway, kinky games? Lou wanted to hear about that. She would be able to blackmail Zack with that kind of information! No more supervising X7s trainings ever again. Maybe she could even get him to supply her with cherry flavored gum…

_Hey what was up with the arm around Noah's shoulders?_

Fool, Lou shrugged again; Noah would be sure to reward him with a nice punch for that!

"… for you to realize that you are a unique creature unlike any other and that you are worth way more than those silly little games Logan and Zack are making you play at. I, for one thing, can dedicate myself to helping you discover a whole new world-"

_What? Hey, get your finger of his lips!_

_Still waiting for the punch to come… any second now… _

God, Noah couldn't possibly be falling for that! What about Zack?

Lou had had enough! She couldn't believe the nerve of Alec to come after her sister like that! After the way he had acted with her that same afternoon!

She spun around and went right back where she came from.

No way, it couldn't be! Alec hadn't shown any sign of interest in Noah since the 'Krit incident'. And the way Zack looked at Noah when he thought no one was looking. Noah wouldn't do that to him. No, she couldn't and she wouldn't!

_I must've gotten it wrong! Yeah, that's it! I bet if I go back now, I'll find Alec on the floor, holding his groin in terrible pain._

And so, she crept back, the other two still oblivious of her presence.

"Oh, I bet that would hurt" Alec smirked devilishly.

_Urgh! He still had that arm around her!_

This couldn't be a plain, simple gesture! Alec had never held Lou this way and for all she knew (and how little she knew!), he hadn't held any of the other girls that way either.

"I bet it would. See ya around"

What was up with the wink and the smile? Noah might as well have said 'come and get me boy' and the message would have been just as clear.

Well, at least she was gone now but what had that been all about?

"Ooh, that woman!"

That woman… Noah…

Had Alec ever considered Lou as a woman? No, he always called her 'kiddo'. She was just a little girl in his eyes. Not that she had ever wanted to appear as more mature. But that afternoon he had been… _Come off it Lou, he's like that with every girl!_

She was seventeen and much more preoccupied by remaining her parents' spoiled single child than anything else… up until now anyway.

-------------------

No matter how hard he was trying to focus on the elements on the computer screen before him, Logan's thoughts kept automatically returning to Max.

Where was she?

In the hospital wing but why?

_Focus, focus. You need to get Eyes Only out of his closet. People out there need him._

But what if Max needed him right now? What could possibly be wrong with her?

When Max, Alec, Zack, Noah and Lou had knocked at the facility's gate, he had felt relieved; it had been like a heavy burden had been taken off his back.

Lydecker, however, hadn't let any sign of happiness or relief slip through his cold military façade. Not that Logan had expected him to jump to his feet, thank God and do the dance of welcome, but still… Perhaps not kicking the four of their transgenic asses out of the facility came as close as throwing a welcome back party as Lydecker could.

Stop thinking about it Logan! Concentrate on the task at hand and that would be Gonzales… yeah, he's a real bad guy, unlike Lydecker!

Well, come to think of it, it wasn't like Lydecker had had any kind of choice; he needed Max and Lou anyway and none of the other X5s would've stayed if Zack hadn't come back.

_Yeah, not much of a choice._

Without a question, Lydecker had ordered the four X5s to "pursue medical attention" and that had been it.

The colonel's gaze had lingered on a just as closed up Lou surrounded by all her siblings and Alec, in an attempt at supporting her both physically -- Posh X5 could barely walk on her own -- and morally, to show Lydecker where their loyalty and solidarity lay.

The effect had been the one expected: the five of them had been asked to report to Lydecker's office as soon as they were declared clear by the medical staff.

Zack, Noah and Alec had already been in and out of Lydecker's office.

Considering Lou's physical condition and her latest argument with the colonel, Logan doubted that she would even step foot in his office; that is, not in the coming… decades.

But where was Max? What was taking so long?

Harassing Noah had turned out useless: if the X5 knew anything, she had both held her tongue and proven to be a born liar -- but weren't they all?

If something had gone wrong, she would've told him.

Yes, Noah would've told me, Logan tried to convince himself.

_Stop thinking about her, Logan! It's probably nothing! Focus on Gonzales… dangerous criminal building up his own drug and prostitution net… a bad guy just like Eyes Only likes them. _

But if nothing had gone wrong then why was it taking so long for her to get back?

Even Eyes Only could use a little X5 neurological enhancement to focus on several tasks at once from time to time.

Logan was sitting at his large desk, blankly staring at the monitor before him, his back to the door as memories of Max raced through his mind.

He nearly jumped out of his chair when his vision was obscured.

Somebody had placed a hand on his eyes and Logan was absolutely unable to tell who that person was. But he knew who he wanted it to be.

He struggled to turn around and free himself but the touch, though soft and warm, was also firm.

The person's other hand was resting on his shoulder and Logan felt the pressure on that part of his body increase a little: the person was leaning forward. Soon enough, Logan felt a warm breath on the side of his head.

Something long and silky brushed his cheek: hair.

The touch was familiar though he hadn't experienced it in months; he had to be day dreaming.

"It's funny how Eyes Only can be so easy to find. I'm sure some people aren't just looking hard enough"

That voice... it had near-whispered in his ear, sending soft, hot breaths on his face. He knew it, he knew that voice. His heart started racing. It had maybe lost its gravity but it was the same voice nonetheless.

He wanted to look, but at the same time, he dreaded it. What if he _was_ only daydreaming? What if it wasn't her? His entire mind was yelling at him that it couldn't be, that he was just imagining, but the pounding in his chest spoke otherwise.

Logan couldn't stand the torture of not knowing any longer and slowly turned his head around. This time the hand released its grip.

"Ok, now I know I'm dreaming" he said.

His eyes went from the sparkling almond shaped eyes to the hand that was hanging in the air where his forehead had been seconds ago.

The hand moved closer and brushed the side of his face, followed its curves all the way down to his chin where it lingered.

The feeling was so light and brisk, that Logan wondered whether he had been touched at all.

He raised a hand to his face and closed it on Max's hand, pressing her slender fingers hard against his skin as if wanting them to melt into him.

Logan closed his eyes at the warm sensation he had been craving for so long and sighed in relief. He wasn't dreaming; this _was_ real.

He blinked his eyes open and stared into Max's brown eyes.

Her bee-stung lips were stretched in a sly tender smile and the sparkle in her eyes betrayed the mixture of emotions going on inside of her.

He wanted to get lost in them, to get lost _in_ her.

Suddenly, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close to him: the gap between them appearing unbearable to him now that he knew for sure he could touch her.

Max let out a squeak of surprise lost in Logan's lips as he dragged her into a passionate kiss.

One hand in her hair and the other down her back, he pressed her against him tighter and tighter.

Now sitting on Logan's lap, her thighs around his hips, Max's feet were barely touching the floor.

Max's head being a little higher than Logan's in the stance they had adopted, she arched her neck down in order to deepen the kiss.

Her tongue was meeting Logan's for the first time in too long a time and the warmth of their touch felt soft and tender but also unsure and fragile.

Max thought she could count the number of times she and Logan had exchanged that kind of intimacy on her hand. It was so unfair for Max to feel like walking through unexplored fields when she was just _being_ with Logan.

After all this time, any normal couple would know the other one's body by heart, their reactions, what made them scream and what sent them to the moon. Max realized yet how much she had to learn about Logan and that frightened her.

She wrapped her arms around him, her hands mirroring his: one lost in his dark blond hair and the other one slipped between Logan's back and the chair's back, applying a pressure on Logan's upper body, stretching up his back, making it lengthen just as he was doing with hers in an attempt at getting even closer.

Max could feel her heartbeats accelerating and hear her breathing get louder and harsher. The same thing was happening to her partner as their kiss was getting more and more intense.

They broke apart and their eyes met for what seemed like the first time in a very long time. Logan's pupils were dilated, nearly obscuring the blue of his eyes.

She knew the look in his eyes was reflected in hers: desire, craving and love.

She inhaled loudly and without ever breaking eye contact, she whispered:

"Logan… I… I love you"

There.

That hadn't been nearly as hard as what she'd thought it would. Then again, the words didn't mean as much as the consequences they generated.

She loved the man before her and she had loved him for a very long time. Would finally telling him really change anything?

She knew he loved her for he had already told her several times but now, now that it felt safe, now that they could hope, _now_ was the time to open herself up to him.

"I know Max"

"I know you know" she smirked, "I just needed to tell you"

"I love you too Max" he said leaning forward to capture her lips with his once more.

He wanted to explore her mouth, to know all the hidden corners of it.

She was pressing herself closer to him and he was doing the same when he realized how unbearable the idea of wearing clothes had become to him.

He wanted to touch Max; he wanted her so much he thought his insides would catch fire if he didn't have her right now.

Max seemed to be feeling the same way, her fingers had made their way under Logan's shirt and were now pulling it up. Trouble was that they'd have to break apart to get the shirt up over Logan's head and out of the way. And neither of them seemed willing to take the initiative to separate.

When they finally did, the absence of the other's warmth felt insufferable; neither could stand it. Logan quickly pulled Max's tank top up as well and when he pulled her close again, their burning bare bodies met.

Logan shivered and Max gasped.

Logan's mouth drew away from Max's lips and followed the line of her jaw and down her neck.

They lingered there in the little hole at the top of her neck, beneath her chin; a hole made especially for his mouth, Max thought as his mouth fitted perfectly there while his fingers were expertly getting rid of her bra.

Her fingers still lost in his hair, Max's hand followed Logan's movements as he moved down her collarbone, right between her breasts.

Max moaned and as a response, a sigh was emanated by Logan.

One hand was still tightly wrapped around her waist to keep her from falling as she was now arching her back to allow him more access.

His free hand joined his mouth and grazed over her breasts. Max's breathing got even louder.

Finally, Logan turned the chair he was still sitting on towards the part of the desk covered in papers.

He got to his feet, Max still pressed against him, her ankles locked behind his back.

He threw all the papers concerning the Gonzales case to the floor and lay Max down on the desk.

He paused for a moment, wanting to capture that image of her: hair messed up, swollen lips, the quick rise and fall of her naked chest… all his doing.

Max pumped back on her elbows; she was missing the contact with his bare skin. She extended one arm, grabbed his shoulder and pulled him closer.

Logan fell on top of her and the feeling of his delicious weight pressing against her made her moan once more.

She searched for Logan's lips and found them while she was unfastening his belt and trousers.

As he was struggling to get rid of Max's pants, Logan wondered when his mind had stopped throwing questions at him: how could this be? Where had the virus gone? Was Max permanently cured?

There would be time for questions later… tomorrow… maybe the day after that or even next week or next month…

-------------------

Forget about boredom! Lou had a new friend lying on her bed next to her… His name was Anger and he wasn't really nice.

_Stupid mangy annoying selfish obsessed and perverted wanker!_

Yeah, Alec was all those things and more. He hit on every thing that had a pair of breasts and this afternoon, he had just realized that she was part of that category!

What do you call those kinds of people? Oh, yeah, average males!

There was another knock on the door. Lou turned her head towards the new comer and snapped:

"What!"

It was Zack and he looked slightly taken aback by her tone.

"Um… sorry. I'm a little… edgy"

Zack closed the door behind him and stepped in, hands in his pockets.

"Whatever you call it" he smiled.

"Yeah, the hospital wing's driving me mad! I think my mental health is at stake here" Lou said still crankily.

"Well no worries then, you'll be out tomorrow and be able to return to your room which is empty now"

Lou had been sharing her room with Max ever since they had arrived.

"Tell me about it! I can feel the vibrations! They're driving me nuts as well! Curse that sixth sense! Curse Sandeman and his stupid runes!"

"Whatever made you hate the whole world today?" the big brother asked amused.

"Who else? The one and only sodding Alec!"

"What did he do now?" Zack's smile faded and was replaced with a deep frown.

"Just being his normal disgusting self" Lou spat out, "You know, saying things he shouldn't, looking at things he shouldn't, putting his arm around shoulders and making indecent propositions and all that to people he shouldn't!" Lou ranted more to herself than to Zack.

"Really? What did he do to you?" he asked gravely.

He still took his role of protecting his siblings very seriously, like it was imprinted in his DNA. It was in his nature to make sure the ones he loved were happy, otherwise, he wouldn't have gone to England and he wouldn't have helped the others out of Terminal City in the first place.

"Not only me! He's been playing around with the same person ever since he's got here. You'd think that ending up naked in another guy's room would have calmed his urges but nooo, he just keeps coming back for more!"

"He's been sniffing around Noah again?"

"Yes and you know what-"Lou interrupted herself as she saw the grave and furious look on Zack's face.

"I - it's not that - um- I might've-"she stammered, not sure she had anything to say at all.

Zack silently got up and left.

The noise of the door's slamming echoed long after he had closed it and it stayed haunting her. It was like she had trapped Alec. He deserved it, she tried convincing herself. He sure did. Someone had to stop his cocky attitude.

But Zack? It was like she had used him too. If something was really going on between Noah and Alec, was she the one who had to break it to Zack? Did she have the right to intervene in their private business just because she was… jealous and angry and felt betrayed.

She did feel all these things but Lou didn't want to ask herself _why _she felt them. She knew she did and she was more preoccupied with what these feelings had led her to do; what they had made her do…

If Zack got really mad, things could turn ugly and it would all be her fault.

She kept seeing the look on her big brother's face: he had worn an expression of cold barely controlled fury and she couldn't blame him. She was responsible for it, she truly was and there was no stopping what she had launched now.

It had all happened so fast, she hadn't realized; one second, Zack was kind and concerned and the next… she was a spoiled brat, but that, _that_ had been sheer meanness.

-------------------

"So, you got that sorta mermaid Manticore specimen from White all by yourself?" Jondy summed up what Alec had been bragging about all dinner long.

Jondy hardly seemed to be impressed and Alec hardly seemed to notice it: the perfect couple.

"Yeah, well, Max did help a little" Alec shrugged, "I was the one that ate the bullet; proof that I took care of all the risky situations"

They had both just exited the cafeteria and were about to join the others in the 'TV room'. One of the few rooms in the facility that could hold the entire transgenic population and several television sets.

"I'm sure you did" Jondy said, more sarcasm dripping from her words then she had first intended.

She knew Alec was all about being smug and Jondy, well, she was all about being nice. So nice, that Alec had mistaken her polite fainted interest for a real passionate one and hadn't let her out of the range of his voice since dinner.

"You should've seen this" Alec smirked, "White had his men all over the place and I was holding her in my arms, like this. Time was against us, she had already spent too much time out of the water! So, I had to-"

Jondy hadn't seen it coming. Therefore, it had been impossible for Alec to elude it; he had been too caught up in mimicking his heroic rescue of the trapped gill girl.

Next second she looked at Alec, he was on the floor, his hand on his bleeding and swelling lip, looking up at a broad shouldered; muscular figure, she recognized as Zack's, though he had his back to her. The barcode told her that much.

Zack's fists were clenched and though Jondy hadn't properly witnessed anything, she guessed that one of them was responsible for Alec's present state.

"Zack?" Alec said pushing himself back up thanks to the wall with one hand, the other one still covering the side of his mouth and chin, "What the hell was-"

Alec never got the time to finish his confused interrogation. Zack closed his hands around his throat, yanked him up to his feet and knocked him against the wall. He maintained his grip on Alec, whose feet couldn't make contact with the floor anymore.

Jondy's jaw dropped. Alec's expression went from astonishment to panic. Zack was all cold anger.

"You better listen good cuz I'm only gonna say it once" he didn't wait for Alec's response.

Not that the X5 could give him any; besides, hovering several inches above the floor, Alec was pretty much all ears.

Suddenly, Jondy seemed to recover the power of speech. She rushed towards them and applied a strong pressure on Zack's cybernetic enhanced arm in an attempt to make him drop Alec, in vain.

"Zack, cut it out! What the hell d'you think you're doing?"

"Stay out of this Jon" Zack spoke coldly never releasing Alec from his gaze.

Jondy took a step back, holding her breath.

"The first time I heard you were harassing my girl, I didn't say anything cuz there was no way for you to know where you stand. But today, I'm gonna make sure you do. Stop stalking Noah" he spoke that last sentence, his breath hot on Alec's face, "Is that clear?" he added his tone rising in anger and mashing Alec against the wall one more time.

Jondy took a step forward and hiding her fear of Zack's temper, she said:

"Zack, that's enough, he got it"

Zack still didn't let go, his cold blue eyes still locked on Alec.

"Zack, I said that he got it" she repeated just as firmly, her voice never betraying the shaking going on inside her.

Zack finally let go: Alec crashed to the floor, one hand on his chest, grasping for breath.

Jondy was on her knees in seconds, a hand on his back for support.

Zack spun around and started walking away. Alec was too stunned to say anything. Suddenly, Zack stopped dead in his tracks and Alec froze in apprehension.

Zack turned his head, giving Alec and Jondy his profile, though never looking at them directly.

"One more thing. Don't mess with my sister either"

And without further explanations, he turned around the corner and was out of their sight.

Jondy helped Alec to his feet before asking:

"What was that all about? And which sister is he talking about?"

Alec coughed a few times before answering, his eyes still watering:

"I don't know"

Jondy opened her mouth to tell him to stop lying when she caught a glance at his hazel green eyes. While Alec often hid behind his trademark smirk, his eyes rarely lied. And right now, they were saying one thing: 'I _really_ don't know'

-------------------

Admitting that you need help from one of your greatest rivals is unbearable.

And Donald Lydecker would probably never have done such a thing if the situation hadn't been what it was. But, Lou had been tortured, Brin was dead, Max was carrying the whole transgenic burden on her shoulders… it was time for him to act as well.

He had delayed this for far too long. He should have done it ages ago, when he had first made the link between Sandeman and the Familiar's cult.

Nearly twenty years ago, when Lydecker had been assigned to project Manticore, he had met the man, the lead scientist, the one and only genius and Lydecker had loathed the man the very second he had seen him.

At least, the feeling had been mutual. The two men understanding that the war for the head of the project would be taking place between the two of them, hadn't bothered becoming friendly. Lydecker had only known the man had a wife and two kids.

What had become of those kids? Lydecker now knew. Ames White was the eldest and showed a great dislike for his father. One thing that he shared with Lydecker but that didn't put them in the same boat. The other, a certain CJ according to Max, was probably still locked in a mental institute.

Under other circumstances, Lydecker would have pointed out the irony of the situation. CJ, in a mental institute for seventeen years… a common point with a father he probably barely remembered.

But now was the time to bring the old skeleton out of the cupboard and so, first thing in the morning, Lydecker was heading to _Powell Institute_, Colorado.

-------------------

Zack stepped into his room, closed the door behind him. Noah looked up from a book she had been reading.

"Hey, where've you've been?"

Zack didn't answer immediately. He slowly walked to the bed Noah was lying on. She brushed her hand against his arm in a concerned gesture.

"Noah? We've always been honest right?"

"On my part yeah" she said frowning and closing her book.

Zack didn't answer for a few seconds and Noah didn't dare say anything. She just kept scanning his face for clues of what was going on.

"Is there something going on between you and Alec?"

The question had been blurted out, like it had required super-human effort to formulate and it was all being thrown in one jet.

Noah's green eyes widened in disbelief then, a smile turned the corners of her full lips. It broadened and she uttered a laugh.

Zack however, wasn't finding it funny at all. He stood up, his back to her. She sat up and said:

"You're serious?"

He spun around, and seeing his facial expression, there was no doubting that he was.

"Where did you ever get such an idea?" she asked again.

"Doesn't matter. I would just like you to answer my first question" he said coldly.

"Of course, there isn't anything going on between me and Alec. God, this is sounding like some lousy pre-pulse teenage soap!" she scoffed.

"You sure? Never?"

"I think I'd remember! Not now, not ever!" Noah said indignantly.

Zack seemed to breathe more easily after that but he didn't seem fully comfortable all the same.

"Ever since we came back did he- you know- try anything?"

"You mean did he come onto me? And the answer is no. Alec's just being his normal arrogant self. I mean you know how he is. Girls can misinterpret the things that he says, but half the time, he doesn't mean them"

"Does he?"

"Course not. But he'd better be careful cuz someday, some girl's gonna read the signs all wrong and it might turn ugly for him"

"It might already have."

Noah's mouth dropped open at this. She got out of bed to face Zack.

"What have you done?"

Zack lowered his eyes and Noah swallowed hard.

"He's not back at the hospital wing, is he?"

"No" Zack finally said, "I merely set his ideas straight"

Noah turned around and started pacing the room.

"Who? Who told you?"

"Told me what?" Zack played stupid.

"I did have a conversation with Alec after diner and he might've been his usual arrogant self but I thought we were alone. I didn't hear anyone else in the hallway"

"That's maybe cuz you weren't paying attention"

"Maybe, but that doesn't tell me who it was?"

"Look, it was all a big misunderstanding so let's just fughedaboudit"

Noah stared at him, her arms crossed over her chest. She replayed the whole conversation in her head. She had gone to diner earlier to avoid Logan. The others were supposed to either be in the television room or private rooms or in the cafeteria. Alec had come from the rooms upstairs and she had come from the cafeteria. The third hallway led to the hospital wing.

There were only two people in there. Max and Lou. And if Logan had stopped harassing her it probably was because Max had found him before he could find her… so that only left out one person and it made perfect sense for it to be that person.

Noah smiled and sighed in exasperation. No wonder this sounded like some lousy pre-pulse teenage soap… it was the doing of one! And Zack had fallen head first for it. She turned to him, hands on her hips.

"There's something we gotta discuss"

Zack looked at her suspiciously.

"It's called trust"

-------------------

**End of Chapter**

"So come on, click, click, click people! This fic needs some encouragement, the computer is not writing it all by itself! Click, click, click!" Roxy said in a very Normal-like way.


	9. Back to Business

**Title: **…Happily Ever After

**Author: **Roxy

**Beta Reader: **Rose

**Category: **Action, Humor and Romance. (M/L)

**Rating: **PG 13

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee. I don't own Dark Angel, though Noah and Lou do belong to me. I am making no money out of this.

**Summary: **This is my hit at a 3rd season. Max and the others are trapped in TC, surrounded by White's men. A new little sister comes along. Deck reappears (isn't he just our favorite bad guy?). X5s reunion. More Familiars and how to deal with them.

**Previous Chapter: **Max and Logan have finally gotten over the virus… ahem…use your imagination… Lydecker's decided that it was long time for a talk with Sandeman and he knows exactly where to find the creator of Manticore. Zack and Noah are facing a slight misunderstanding involving Alec and caused by Lou.

**Notes: **Ok, here goes… been wanting to write a chapter like this for quite sometime now because I think that it kinda keeps the spirit of S1 going. You know, Max on a mission for Eyes Only and having fun and never even heard of White and his whacky cult! So that was S1… now, throw in more X5s, a heated environment, an ideal cliché of a bad guy… come on, this was too tempting not to write lol!

**Feedback: **_BlackRose9: _More Deck… you're interested in Deck's past concerning Sandeman right? Well I must admit that my wonderful Beta babe's helped a lot on this one because I really was stuck there for a while… but it's all figured out now and you'll get more and more details about what happened between the two of them in the coming chapters. I really had a doubt about that last Zack – Alec encounter… I wasn't quite sure "the real Zack" would have reacted with such anger and impulsivity… I mean, he's all about planning and calculation but even Lydecker's told him sometime in S1 that he hadn't changed in the sense that he was still so angry.

_Nanny4_: lol! I can understand you being fed up with Alec… especially seeing the number of fic in which Max dumps Logan in a heart beat to go make hot monkey love with Alec! I've never been much of an Alec fan girl myself… but I mean he's a delight to write in a sense that it's _so_ easy to put him in embarrassing situations you know? But there must be a certain number of true M/L writers out there as well, right? You (M/L shippers) all seem so unsatisfied with this fic whenever it comes to Max and Logan's relationship. True, they are not the main center of the fic. That is deliberate. But, though I have read some excellent M/A fics, I could never write any… But surely, I can't be the only one, right? Well I know we have to take into account to fact that everything that is DA is now becoming a bit outdated and that the fandom is slowly dying or at least is not what it used to be but… there has to be other DA writers that write fics only based on M/L! Thanks for the review and keep telling me what you think!

_Suzy_: Another unsatisfied M/L shipper! I promise I'll do my best to give you more M/L… you can already count on chapter 9 and 12 being mostly about their relationship… so that's a start. I must admit that I no longer read any DA fics… I know, I know, shame on me, not even supporting one my favorite fandoms… Thanks for the compliment on my writing but if you like it, then shouldn't you like other parts of the fic as well? I mean give the other characters a chance, you might actually end up liking a few of them ;-)

_BlueAngel137_: All I can say is… THANK YOU!!! Yes, you're doing your encouraging job perfectly. Never hesitate to tell me about things you don't like in this story either… even though I obviously prefer praises to flame (lol!), constructive criticism is always welcome…

_Bid Edna: _Thanks as always for your review. Max and Logan… well there will no real explanation for the virus in this chapter. I was just correcting something that never should've happened in the first place! I'll mention it in chapter 9 though, so you'll see then. Alec and Lou… naughty grin… I know I'm messing around with the two of them and I'm really enjoying it as well… but things are just about to get slightly more complicated… yes, yes, you read right it was "more complicated", not "less complicated" lol! But you know it's not like they didn't have it coming… I mean she's an unbearable pretentious little brat and he's a self centered, egoistical, perverted sex on legs… so you know shrugs lol!

_Third equinox_: So you're only down to chapter 3 so it'll be sometimes before you read this answer… still thank you very much for your review, you guys don't realize how happy I am as soon as I see one popping in my mailbox! It really just makes it all worth it… that's why I take the time to answer each of you individually.

_Lydecker wana b : _Well there you are… an update… hope you like it and thank you !

**-------------------**

… **Happily Ever After**

**Chapter VIII: Back to Business**

Max was awoken from her deep slumber by the light and regular tip-tap of typing and the scuffing, at regular intervals, of three day beard growth.

Logan was working!

Max reluctantly turned her head to the source of light and opened one eye. This was a really embarrassing situation: the killing machine with shark DNA was lost in dream world while the ordinary cyber journalist was awake at five in the morning hacking God knows what!

Yeah well the cyber journalist didn't have to go through hours and hours of tyrannical training, did he? And he didn't have a weekly appointment with a pee brain wacky member of an even wackier cult whose plan was to rid the whole planet of any human life in probably in the worst way, now did he?

Still, Logan awake at this time of the day meant only one thing: Max wasn't tiring him enough.

_Ok, time to place the bar a little higher… Logan Cale prepare to be blown away, cuz you ain't see nothin' yet!_

Max wrapped the bed sheet around her naked self and walked towards Logan. She leaned on the desk hoping to switch his attention from his computer to her demanding body. But the guy was lost in deep, deep concentration as he only said:

"Morning. Sleep well?"

"Yeah… did you?" Max responded her voice like a purr.

Logan went on typing, the frown on his forehead only reflecting the focus of his ingenious mind.

"You know, I just might get vexed" Max said drawing a circle from the desk to behind Logan's chair.

"Why's that?" Logan said absentmindedly.

"Because you seem to be taking more interest in your computer than in me" she whispered to his ear, "I don't think I'll be able to bear this much longer"

Her hands locked on his chest and her tongue started playing with his ear lob.

"Really…" Logan seemed to be holding his breath.

_Defocusing mission launched._

"But... um… it's about… Eyes Only… planning on… making him… come out of…"

Logan was pausing as the tip of Max's tongue was sending waves of pleasure through his body.

"Yes?" Max drawled.

"Um… come out of his cupboard" Logan finished.

"Yeah… but right now?"

"Well, pretty soon… before the state governor's elections anyway"

"Um… I thought this was about Eyes Only not about being a model citizen…"

Max started wondering whose focus was running low.

"Have you ever heard the name of Antonio Gonzales?"

"No. But let me guess… a real big bad guy"

"Yep. Prostitution, drug, murder… name it, he's done it and he's starting to build a nice little mafia of his own. And Eyes Only's gonna bring him down"

"Are you sure this is a good idea because I think that between the Familiars and the transgenic problem we've got enough on our hands as it is"

"Yes, but this has to do with the facility"

Max frowned and leaned down next to Logan.

"How so?'

"Gonzales' latest activity is corruption"

"I can see the link with the state governor election but not any further…"

"James Mackenzie, our actual governor, has been borrowing a lot of money lately without ever returning it and Gonzales has proof of that. But he also has proof that the other running candidate, that's Terri Johnson, has a strong taste in… younger women to the extreme displeasure of his wife"

"How much younger exactly?"

"Younger than Lou"

"See the reason why I hate politics so much… how the hell are we suppose to vote knowing that one is a major crook and the other is a pedophile? Anyway, I suppose Gonzales is keeping that kind of information as a safety net, in case one of them turns on him, right?"

"And that's also information Eyes Only would like to put his hands on"

"I bet, but what's it gotta-"

"Lemme finish. The thing is both of our candidates got the word that Gonzales holds that kind of information so they want it back as well. But they don't want to destroy his trust, so they're trying to force him to choose between the two of them, to show where his loyalty lays"

"The thing is" Logan went on, "Gonzales doesn't know the meaning of the word loyalty, so it's up to the one who gives him the most. Mackenzie, our current governor, said to Gonzales, and these are his exact words, that if the Latino gives him what he wants, he'll make sure he gets certain privileges, plus he'll uncover the mystery about a national threat"

"A threat? The only thing that's been called a national threat for the past few months is us!"

"Precisely"

"How do we know Mackenzie's not bluffing?"

"He _is_ the governor of the state where the facility is hidden, isn't he? I'm sure he'd know stuff like that"

"He'd know while agents from secret governmental agencies like White wouldn't? Plus what's the point in telling Gonzales where we are?"

"Each and every one of you is worth way more than anything Gonzales will ever get his hands on? He can use you guys for anything… best agents in the world to support his growing little mafia, hottest girls for his prostitution net, rat labs for new drugs, I don't know! Anything!"

Max looked blankly at the screen before her. It showed the picture of the man who could destroy their fragile balance and safety in an instant. He looked around his fifties and rather well fed, the bastard!

"We gotta tell Deck and launch an Eyes Only mission right away!" she burst out, standing up.

"I was hoping you'd say that but… are you sure about the 'right away' part?" Logan asked a boyish smile twitching the corners of his lips.

"Well, maybe not right away, I mean the whole facility's not going to be up for another two hours" Max shrugged.

"Three for some of its residents" Logan said referring to a certain baby sister.

"That does make an awful lot of time" Max said in an innocent tone that fooled no one.

"I believe you mentioned something about you not baring that I take more interest in my computer than in you" Logan said pushing on his arms in order to rise from his chair.

"Oh, did I?"

"Yes… I also happen to believe that I might be able to do something about it"

Now Max was looking up to him through her long eye lashes.

"Oh, you mean halt your quest to making this rotten world a better place? Please not on my account"

"Well, it wouldn't be halting my quest; it would more of a continuation of my quest. See, so many people to make happy"

"Really, hope you aren't planning on making them all happy the same way you're doing with me" Max said brushing her lips against his.

"I might not have the strength for that" Logan said locking one arm around her waist and kissing her passionately.

Max let go of the sheet, her only clothing, while her arms played along Logan's chest and back. She rushed him towards the bed and fell on top of him.

As one of Logan's hands was lost in her long brown hair and she was literally ripping his pants apart, Max thought: _defocusing mission accomplished. _

-------------------

"So that's why I'd like to send a group of X5s on this mission" Logan concluded.

He was in Lydecker's office and had just exposed to him the Gonzales-Mackenzie problem, but somehow, he hadn't found Deck as attentive and concerned as he had expected.

"Are we sure Mackenzie knows the location of this facility?" Lydecker asked at last.

"No. And government people are your buddies not mine. But the real question is, are we willing to take the risk of endangering all this?" he waved his arms at the office, the walls, the whole facility and the whole transgenic population, "If Mackenzie doesn't know than it'll still make one more bad guy off our back"

Logan wasn't sure this was an argument that would convince Deck; in fact, he was sure it wouldn't. However, against all odds, the older man replied:

"Fine, take whatever you need" he paused before adding "Except Zack"

"Why?" Logan asked puzzled.

Zack had a really bad temper and always wanted to have his say in everything but he was by far the best soldier in the whole facility.

"Because he has to remain at base. He's in charge" Lydecker said placing his brief case on his desk.

"In charge?" Logan frowned.

In charge of what? Logan asked himself. A new program, trainings… these could all be suspended until the whole case was solved.

"In charge" Lydecker simply replied in a conclusive tone, locking his brief case.

Logan raised a questioning eyebrow: surely, Lydecker wasn't planning on retiring this very minute.

"Yes. I'm leaving in an hour. I'll be gone for about a week" the older man said answering Logan's silent question.

"Where to?"

"That doesn't concern you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of things to take care of, starting with covering my tracks from the government and warning my partner on this" he said gravely making for the door.

"Your partner? Who happens to be…" Logan inquired.

"Joshua"

And with that, he left the room, leaving Logan staring blankly after him: Lydecker leaving the facility at such a time of crisis, with a dog-boy and hiding the whole thing from the government… _And I thought my day was going to be interesting…_

-------------------

Lou hadn't fully recovered but she was in a good enough shape to leave her bed in the hospital wing for the one she had slept in for the past few months. Such little compensation but for once, she wished she could go back to training.

It would take her mind of all the horrible things she had done lately: failed recon mission, flight to England followed by torture, overhearing conversations and jumping to conclusions.

She must've been wrong about Alec and Noah. Zack wouldn't be acting the way he was, with the both of them, like nothing had changed. Alec seemed a little edgy around Zack though but other than that, things hadn't changed at all.

Suddenly, her head snapped up at something Logan had said.

"What exactly do you mean when you say Lydecker's gone?" she asked in disbelief.

Logan had set up a meeting between the O9ers and Alec. And his room – while perfect for two – had shown itself much too small for such a crowd.

"Pretty much only that"

"What are you complaining about? You hate the man and _that_ is the understatement of the century" Alec snorted.

Lou elbowed him less discreetly then she had intended too, but Logan went on nonetheless.

"I was actually hoping that one of you guys could tell me what was going on"

Instinctively, eight pairs of eyes fell on Zack who was, arms crossed on his chest, standing in the dimmest corner of the narrow room. He looked up at them all and simply said:

"I don't know much more. He only told me to keep an eye out and to do as I had been trained to. I found especially strange that he was only taking Joshua. I mean, if he's going on an undercover mission, we have more… inconspicuous units"

Joshua _did_ particularly stand out in a crowd, as much because of his giant height than because of his cute puppy face. Plus, he wasn't exactly fully comfortable around ordinaries.

"Joshua?" Max's head snapped up at the mention of her big fella.

Zack nodded gravely and they all fell silent, as though trying to read Lydecker's mind from a distance.

Logan presented another problem as he explained for the third time since that morning what Mackenzie was planning on doing, Gonzales' implication and stressed that their safety was at stake. Once he was sure he had their complete attention, even Lou's, he exposed his three part mission.

Gonzales kept the documents they were after in a safe located in a hidden room. Logan laid a map on the desk.

"Not so secret, huh?" Zane snorted.

"Eyes Only has friends who are architects" Logan shrugged, "The tough part's going to get past the iris scan to get in and then Gonzales' thumb print to open the safe in question"

"Wicked!" Lou exploded, becoming all of a sudden enthusiastically British, "Can I be the one to rip his eye out? I bet you guys have all done it loads of time!"

Everyone stared at her and you could've heard the crickets singing till Max broke the silence:

"No actually, we just let Lydecker do it"

"Some ambassador's daughter, I tell you" Alec added in low tone.

Lou slapped him in the back of his head but that didn't whip the trademark smirk off his face.

Logan explained that the first part of the mission was to recover Gonzales' hand print. He was talking about it like they were going to be drinking tea with the guy, but Max wasn't sure how they were going to pull this trick off.

However, she had full confidence in Logan and decided not to badger him with what he thought were details. Logan went on with part two and concluded:

"Ok that's it for the general aspect of the mission, now let's get to details-"Logan started.

"Wait!" Lou interrupted, "You've only told us part one and two. What's part three?"

"Well. Part three will take place later on in the game and only one person will be needed for that. You really don't need to know about it right now"

That didn't satisfy Posh X5 in the least, but she remained silent at the warning glances the others were throwing at her. She crossed her arms on her chest and engaged herself in a nice brooding quality session worthy of X5 599.

"Ok so back to the field-"

"Excuse me Logan, but what exactly _is_ the field?" Jondy interrupted politely.

"Oh right, I didn't mention that! Gonzales owns a night club, a salsa night club. Pretty handy to re-inject all that illegally acquired money. And think of how many dealers and clients he gets to be in contact with" Logan pointed out.

"What?" Max frowned, "The safe in question is in a nightclub!"

"Are you sure about that?" Syl asked not much convinced.

"Positive" Logan simply nodded.

"Gonzales' gotta to have his mind slowed down by all those illegal substances he's selling" Alec put in.

Nothing ever seemed to surprise him much.

"He's there nearly every night and it's also where he makes most of his transactions" Logan added.

"Whatever" Max shrugged, "Let's get on with part one. How do we get the thumb print?"

An Eyes Only contact could reconstruct a glove of the exact image of Gonzales' hand. All he needed was something the target had touched: a bottle for example.

"Waitresses come and go in his club, so it won't be tough for one of you girls to get in and out with an empty bottle of beer without anyone noticing" Logan pointed out.

The reconstruction would take at least twenty-four hours, forty-eight at the most, depending on how fast Logan could get a hold of his contact. This was why part one was taking place tonight.

Syl was assigned to it, but she'd have to stay at base for part two. The risk of somebody noticing her was not one worth taking.

"Ok, let's get to part two" Logan rubbed both is hands together.

His plan was being pieced together and he was experiencing the pleasure and excitement Lydecker certainly felt each time one of his kids accomplished successfully an assignment.

"One of you who's going to be on field is going to wear these" he said holding out a pair of glasses Jennifer Lopez wore back in the days.

"Really? I thought these were part of your new makeover" Alec had been eyeing the pair set on the desk ever since he had entered the room.

"How do they work?" Noah asked.

"Well, the target -- that's Gonzales -- is going to have to look at the wearer of these babies for at least thirty seconds straight for us to get a scan of his iris. So chances of that to happen will be highly increased if the wearer is a lady"

"Because you expected one of us to wear them" Alec snorted and Krit joined in.

Logan merely ignored them. Past experience had taught him that answering back to these two only brought more chaos.

"The scan obtained by the glasses will immediately be transferred into this" he showed a big man's silver ring with a no doubt fake diamond "OK, so now it's up to you guys" Logan said turning to Zack who was the most adapt at choosing which one of his siblings should do what.

-------------------

Alec climbed out of the car and checked that everybody else had, before slamming his door and pushing the automatic lock on the car's keys.

_Nice engine!_

He smoothed his white tuxedo and made sure the horrible ring was perfectly in place before glancing at the others.

Zane was wearing a tuxedo as well, but black to match his short gelled hair.

It had been settled that Noah would be the diversion but she looked more like an attraction in that short red dress clinging perfectly to her made-in-Manticore curves. She wore matching high heels and Alec wondered if she was seriously planning on dancing with these or if she was going for the I-sprained-my-ankle technique. Noah placed her earpiece; making sure her many curls were hiding it, before placing the J.Lo glasses on her nose.

Alec spun around; better not take too much of a close look, last encounter with Zack had been enough. His hazel-green eyes fell on Max.

She was stunningly beautiful though she wore a more formal, longer but low cut black dress. She had created unnatural curls on her long dark hair and had lifted them in a very fashionable knot, Alec had not doubt Lou had something to do with that. If Max wasn't much at ease in her heels, it didn't show while she was walking. Her feline features taking over and making her look like a dangerous and fatale predator, which she was.

Zane took Noah's arm and Alec Max's and all four of them walked away from the car and headed for the entrance of Gonzales' club.

They walked in, the girls easily charming the bouncer so as he didn't ask them any questions.

As soon as they stepped in, they felt a wave of heat whip them all over. The lights were dim and reddish, the atmosphere was stuffy. The club was already crowded and that only added to the warm temperature.

The décor was made to remind of the Caribbean; fake coconut trees and large leafs of fake palm trees. Logan had only mentioned that Gonzales was Latino, which they all could've guessed thanks to his name, but he hadn't told them from where exactly. Maybe Cuba or Puerto Rico, Alec shrugged.

"All right guys, you're in" Logan's voice resounded in all of their ears, covering the club's music thanks to their extra sharp hearing, "Now you know what to do"

-------------------

Noah settled at the bar with Zane, Max and Alec. All four of them remained still and in silence for a little while, scanning and embracing the club's structure and discerning ordinaries from bouncers from crooks.

Logan's words from their last meeting echoed in Noah's mind as she tried to focus entirely on their mission.

_I need four X5s on field for part two of the mission – one of them would be in direct contact with Gonzales and serve as a diversion, while two searched for the documents and one stayed around for back up. Four other elements will be needed at base, one for each of the X5s on field._

Noah inhaled loudly, trying to work out the nervousness out of her system.

She had never done this without Ginna and she wasn't particularly looking forward to it either. The sooner this would be over, the better.

Her co-partners seemed to sense her jittery state as all three of them were surreptitiously eyeing her and absolutely failing to be discreet about it. This was only adding to her cranky mood but they were in their right to stare: after all, it wasn't like the mission could start if she just sat there all night. After all, _she_ was supposed to be making the first move.

Trying to appear as natural and relaxed as possible, Noah turned her head towards the dance floor. It wasn't packed yet. Just a few couples were dancing to Latin rhythms and she couldn't help but biting her lower lip. Could she really go through with this?

She felt someone touch her hand and jolted out of her thoughts. She spun her head around and Max's brown gaze captured hers, her eyes holding an unspoken question.

Noah shrugged and casually said:

"Just looking for a dancer worthy of the title"

Noah knew she wasn't fooling anyone; her smile wasn't reaching her eyes and no doubt Max had noted that.

"This one looks like a good deal, whadya think?" Noah added nodding at a young man not far away.

Max couldn't judge the merchandise properly; the guy had his back to them. He was talking to a group of people and making animated gestures with his arms.

The real hot-tempered, passionate Latino.

But Noah wasn't looking for a sincere approbation; she wanted a little encouragement – which was exactly what Max offered her when she simply nodded and smirked reassuringly.

Noah turned her attention back to the guy. She straightened up, passed a nervous hand through her hair, pulled on her dress and walked to the guy; seduction and self confidence radiating from her like the good little soldier that she was.

Max turned on Zane with a meaningful look and he departed with a simple nod, leaving her and Alec at the bar.

-------------------

Being fully concentrated on the mission was a luxury some thought they could do without.

True that after spending months cooped up in facility and having a schedule highly resembling sleeping, eating, training, eating, training, eating and sleeping again, ending up in Latino night club appeared like an unexpected break. Or so that was Alec's vision of the mission.

It also highly amused him that he had been assigned on field while Posh X5, after countless bouts of begging, suck ups, demands and back to begging again, was still locked up in that facility miles away.

She had still been pouting when he had left and had felt so resentful that she had refused to be his liaison with base. So Syl had taken on the challenge while Lou was in contact with Max, Krit with Noah and Jondy with Zane. Logan was supervising it all, among other things.

The barman refilled his Margarita and checking that Max was fully focused on Noah's actions, Alec lifted his glass in the direction of a cute little brunette. The girl offered a skittish smile in return and Alec was already congratulating himself when the girl walked up to him and started talking... in Spanish!

"Um sorry, English only here" he replied with his trademark smile.

But the girl went on in Spanish and beckoned at something behind him. Alec's head turned around and he came face to face with a less than pleased Max. He casually shrugged and turned his attention back on the girl.

"Her? Nah, don't worry, she's just my sister"

Which wasn't an outright lie… she was his clone's sister.

Never taking his hazel-green eyes off the girl, as to make her think he was addressing her, he asked his privileged correspondent:

"Um tell me Syl, any chance for a simultaneous translation?"

"Why Alec? You incredible hunk of night thing" Syl's ironic tone resounded in his ear, "Since when are words part of the plan? I thought you were all about body language"

Alec simply made a taut smile. There was a pause before Syl's voice reached him again.

"Can't help you on this one Alec. My Spanish is as limited as Jondy's"

Suddenly, he felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to face Max.

"Maybe I can help you out for once"

"Why Max, that would be perfect if you only spoke Spanish" Alec taunted.

"Give me some credit here Alec! I'm a fast learner; I was with Lou nearly all the time she taught Noah. Plus, I've got Lou right here" she said tapping on her ear "if it ever goes beyond my modest skills"

Alec rolled his eyes, sighed but still offered her to be his translator with an inviting gesture of his hand. Max came closer to him and the girl and Alec motioned the girl to repeat what she had previously asked him.

The girl did so and Max immediately responded without consulting Alec.

"Hey, hey, I wanna know what you're telling her"

"Nothing" Max shrugged, "she was wondering who I was. I told her what you had said previously, that I'm your sister"

"Oh" Alec paused "Good. Ask her her name and if she comes here often"

"Alec, it's not like you're gonna be coming back anytime soon if the mission succeeds" Max noted.

"Max, I know what I'm doing, it's all about feinting interest so just ask her"

Max sighed and spoke in Spanish.

This might've been a risky business if it hadn't been Max. But for some reason, Alec couldn't picture the world's savior pulling a dirty trick on him. Max was responsible and reliable… unlike him.

Max kept on translating for another few minutes ("Tell her she's a unique creature unlike any other"; "Broken record much Alec?"; "Not unless it's twice on the same girl, Max") and Alec was starting to wonder if he might be able to linger for a little while after the mission was over.

They hadn't been out for so long; surely the others would enjoy it as much as he would… and Lou would be beside herself with anger. He could already picture her throwing another tantrum. He almost felt bad for Zack and Logan.

The girl was looking interested and Alec thought now was the perfect time to spice things up.

"Um, Max, d'you think you could add little somethings to your translation?"

"Such as?"

"Maybe you could slip in how really sensitive I am since I've just come out of this really hard relationship and maybe you could also mention that I am a beast in bed"

"How would I know that if I'm supposed to be your sister?"

"Good point. Tell her I just broke up with my girlfriend… long distance relationships never work…and I'm trying to take things slowly… but whatever you do, don't tell her that I told you to say all that"

"I can do that" Max said and went on with the Spanish.

-------------------

As it was, Ruben turned out to be a tremendously talented dancer.

When Noah had propositioned him to dance (in Spanish!), he had immediately accepted – not that she had expected anything else, and she had lead him right in front of the VIP lounge where she knew for a fact that Gonzales was settled, eyeing the dance floor, carefully comparing all of the ladies' potential. Noah had to be sure that _she_ would be the one Gonzales would come after.

But for now, it was all about enjoying the moment. And Noah was feeling a slight twinge of guilt at how easy it was. She had been so apprehensive at the idea of dancing again, now that Ginna was dead, that she had completely forgotten how much she actually enjoyed dancing.

It was liberating in a sense that you didn't have to think, predict or anticipate anything, it was all instinctive and physical. It was quite primal when you thought of it, probably one of the oldest kinds of expression, but relieving in so many ways.

Ruben was steering her firmly like he was supposed to, but still allowing her enough space to breathe and do her own thing. Because that was what salsa was all about; it was a very macho dance but it was extremely sensuous all the same. The girl had to feel every move made by her dancer, she had to track every change of direction, every body shift, every tiny little impulsion send by her dancer and she had no time to think for that.

It was easy when your dancer was holding you tight, like Ruben was at the moment. He made his chest transfer tiny vibrations to her as if preparing her. Then, he gave a stronger one and she felt his hips shift as he arched her backwards.

When he brought her back up, Noah was grinning and he noted her enthusiasm. He grinned back and grabbed her close to him again.

He placed one of his hands in her back; firmly maintaining her hips facing his, his other hand still holding hers up. The upper part of his body moved from right to left to the rhythm of the music, as supple as a snake's, inviting, training hers to do the same. She joined him and his legs went back in motion as he led her through the dance floor, lesser couples respectfully moving out of their way.

He pushed her a little away from him, now only holding her with one hand and made her turn again and again, her feline grace not lost on his expert eye. When she came back to face him, he gave another impulsion and finally let her go.

Noah wasn't lost for the least; she knew exactly what to do. Salsa was a macho dance but it was also all about showing off and sometimes the best way to do so was to break away from your partner. It wasn't a coincidence if these special moments were called _shines_.

Never stopping the basic steps in order to remain in the song's rhythm, Noah let her attention be fully absorbed by her partner. Ruben was making steps of his own, a tiny choreography that held African influences as much as hip hop mixed with Cuban salsa. The guy knew his thing and Noah couldn't help but being impressed at it all.

Finally, after a gracious turn, he pointed two of his fingers at her and winked to tell her it was her turn to shine.

Noah appreciated the attention. Some dancers were just so full of themselves that they barely looked at you during the dance, making you feel like a worthless piece of meat in their expert hands; never allowing you any freedom whatsoever.

Noah's grin broadened as familiar steps came back to her, steps Ginna had taught her. She twisted her hips, arched her back and fully playing the salsa game of seduction. She turned around her partner who was looking at her mesmerized.

If this had been a test, Noah was sure she had passed.

She let herself be engulfed in the music, her hips slowing down their never-ending twisting to match the rhythm. She let her fingers go through her curls, freeing them from the sweat that was sticking them to her temples. The beat was building up, getting faster and faster and Noah's moves followed it.

She closed her eyes, forgetting all about Ruben for an instant, her only partner being the music till the beat came to its climax and she felt all her energy and tension be totally drained out of her and finally returned to his arms.

She looked into his black eyes and for a minute they remained in each other's arms, panting and sweating.

She was jubilating at the fact of having a partner of her own merit and Ruben was obviously feeling the same way.

After a meaningful nod, they went back into motion, now fully aware of the other's abilities and capacities.

Noah let herself go in his arms, feeling every impulsion of his body, as he lifted her in an unexpected and complex _porté_. She let out a squeak of surprise which was fully covered by the sound of the music. She remembered that a girl also had to trust her dancer.

Too soon, Noah recognized the final notes of the song. Ruben settled on a slower pace matching the music and finally came to an immobilized position. He raised both his hands, raising Noah's hands with his as well and never letting go, he arched her backwards once again. Instinctively, Noah's left leg entwined Ruben's right, while her right remained firmly implanted on the floor to keep her balance.

Ruben took his time in summoning her back up; she felt her curls graze the floor. But when he finally did, still out of breath, all he said was:

"Baila como una diosa"

Noah laughed at the compliment and managed to reply:

"You're not so bad yourself"

His reaction matched hers as his laugh was mirthful and satisfied.

-------------------

Alec didn't really know what had happened _exactly_… and chances were that he'd probably never know… well, at least, not until the mission was over.

He also had the feeling that if the cute little brunette had all of the sudden switched from being a paused and hot-looking creature to an untamed tigress, it had something to do with what Max had told her… or rather what Lou had told Max to say… Max's responsibility in the whole process wasn't quite established… _yet_.

Hopefully, Zane was coming back from his thorough little tour of the club.

"Ok, I think I know where the stairs to- what the hell happened here?" he exclaimed when he realized Alec's white suit was wet and strongly smelled of Margarita.

"Alec got himself wet" Max said trying hard not to let the corners of her lips twitch.

Alec shot her a dirty glare which only managed to send her into sniggers.

"Why Alec? I thought you'd gotten over that weeks ago" Zane said highly amused, "How do you intend to ever get a girl in your bed if you put yourself in such states when she hasn't even touched you yet" he added in a condescending and fake-sorry tone.

"Oh, she's touched him all right" Max grinned before Alec could even respond.

"Will you all just shut up!" Alec finally blurted out, taking his suit's vest off.

Then he rubbed his left cheek and made a mental note never again to underestimate the blow of Latin fury in action. Next time, he'd duck.

"And that was meant for you too Syl!" he added angrily as he heard her chuckling in his ear. With the little dignity he had left, he added, "Now let's get down to business, shall we?" he turned to Zane and with a motion of the hand, invited him to lead the way.

Zane tried his best to maintain a straight face… unsuccessfully. He and Alec left a satisfied Max alone at the bar, noisily sipping the end of her drink.

She spun around on her seat and noted that Noah was no longer dancing.

The guys had better get to that safe fast because Gonzales was already asking Noah to join him in his private lounge.

-------------------

After being abandoned by Noah, Ruben wandered to the bar to get some refreshments. There, he came face to face with yet the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. He leaned against the counter next to her and offered to buy her another drink.

"Don't you think it's a little presumptuous of you to be coming on to me like this after the way you just danced with my friend" Max smirked.

"As you so rightfully pointed out, I was only _dancing_ with her" Ruben said in his adorable Spanish accent, "Some people get confused because they don't draw the line between dancing -- which is always sensuous, and actually liking somebody"

"Don't even try to make me believe that you've never crossed that line" Max scoffed but Ruben remained serious nonetheless and didn't back down.

"I might've… under exceptional circumstances. A dance partner can become a partner in life and vice-versa but thankfully I don't change girlfriends as often as I change partners"

He sounded sincere and this time Max didn't mock him. Maybe there still were some decent guys out there who weren't rotten to the bone. Maybe Ruben was even one of them.

"So tell me" Ruben went on, not letting the silence settle between them "why are you here if not to dance?"

"Just accompanying a few friends"

"Where are they now?" he inquired.

"Oh, somewhere" Max simply shrugged before putting her empty glass on the counter.

"Well then, how about that drink?" Ruben asked, his black eyes shinning with intensity.

-------------------

"They're both going to pay for this" Alec swore for the umpteenth time.

He and Zane had just stepped through a door marked _employees only_ located on the far right corner of the club. They were making their way down the corridor as quietly as Alec's ramblings allowed them to.

"Yeah, yeah" Zane replied absentmindedly, then he added, "Jondy, do you have any idea how many doors there are in this corridor?"

"Exactly thirteen" her voice resounded in his earpiece.

"I'm sure this was Lou's idea-"

Zane was focusing hard on Jondy's light and cheery tone; his ears trying to abandon Alec's ranting in the background.

"Ok, and which one do we wanna open?"

"-being the perfect gentleman and-"

"Well, they're all mostly used for storage but the third one on your left is the one you wanna take"

"-not like Max-"

"Ok thanks Jon and-" Zane never got the time to finish his sentence and Alec's voice trailed off as the door right in front of them opened and two men stepped out.

They too seemed quite surprised as one's smirk froze on his lips and the other's laugh died in his throat rather abruptly.

Zane and Alec hadn't had the time to go through another door.

The four men stared at each other for two seconds; two seconds, long enough for Zane to evaluate the whole of the situation.

He and Alec had been discovered and had no valuable excuse that would justify what they were doing in this corridor. The guy who owned the club was a major crook and it wouldn't take long for the two Latinos in front of them to add two and two and click that he and Alec weren't looking for discreet, hidden room to make out.

One of the Spanish guys opened his mouth, probably to tell them to get out of here. A second later, he had collapsed on the floor, in for an early bedtime. It didn't take long for Alec to forget about his Margarita incident and react by making sure the second joined his buddy.

"Um… guys? All right there?" Syl's voice said unsurely in both of their earpieces.

"Yeah, we just need to hide these guys in another room so that they don't draw attention" Zane said already lifting one of the knocked out employees.

"Leave them there" Krit's voice said.

"What? Why?" Alec asked.

"You guys don't have the time for that. Noah's been trying to hold Gonzales off for a while now. It's only a matter of minutes before he starts getting interested in something else than just looking at her"

Right.

The iris scan Noah would obtain thanks to her J.lo glasses would be directly downloaded in Alec's hideous ring but it wouldn't remain stored there forever. Just long enough for them to trick the computer into thinking that it was face to face with the real live Gonzales and that'd be it… a few seconds at the most. That was why they needed to already be in front of the machine before Noah launched a stare fight with Gonzales.

"Ok, but we can't just leave 'em there. Eventually, someone else will come in and-" Alec started.

"And that person will be Max" Krit cut him.

The two guys looked at each other before nodding and then disappeared behind the third room on the left side of the corridor, leaving behind the two Latinos' body messily spread on the floor.

-------------------

This was really getting rather messy… with a little luck Zack would've learned something from their latest serious talk…

Catching Gonzales' attention had really been a lot less trouble than what she had first expected. That had even been enjoyable, thanks to Ruben.

Now that the first step had been completed, the rest was showing itself far less appreciable.

Noah was trying hard not to let her disgust show on her face at the realization that Gonzales' hand was on her thigh.

_Imagine it's nothing but a bug… _

… _A big, gruesome, stinking, disgusting bug waiting to be burst..._

Ok, that wasn't quite working like it was supposed to.

Alec and Zane were going to pay for forcing her to be the decoy.

She had been in this tiny room at the back of the VIP lounge for nearly fifteen minutes alone with The Bug and she was seriously running out of imagination and things to say… The only words she could clearly think of were 'Urgh!' and 'Showers are the best thing mankind's ever come up with'.

He was getting closer.

No wait, that wasn't possible.

Noah realized that she no longer had any personal space. It wasn't like she could pull away without raising suspicions. What kind of girl accepts an invitation in the boss's private lounge and then withdraws?

Noah doubted Gonzales had even the slightest idea what an X5 was and she'd rather keep it that way.

She was seated on the edge of the couch and could hardly get away from him, unless of course she slipped over the armrest and wouldn't that just appear terribly inconvenient?

She was going to kill Zane and Alec as soon as she got outta there.

Gonzales was already looking at her with eyes filled of sickening desire and Noah knew that tomorrow morning he wouldn't even remember whether she had been blonde or redhead.

His head was tilting closer to hers.

_Urgh!_

He was wetting his lips with his tongue.

_Double urgh!_

His hand on her thigh was heading upward.

_Showers are the best thing mankind's ever come up with!_

His other hand was closing around her shoulders.

_Shower, shower, shower!_

Next thing she knew, Gonzales was on top of her as he had grabbed her by the hips and pulled her under him.

_Wow! Talk about foreplay and building up anticipation!_

Well, at least he hadn't kissed her yet.

"I want you" he whispered, his lips millimeters away from hers.

_Some men just know how to talk to women._

Suddenly, Noah heard something else than The Bug's hoarse breath and the distant, muffled sound of music.

"Guys are in position. Do your thing" Krit told her.

_Finally!_

Noah's attention switched back to Gonzales; she pulled a scowl as he already had his eyes closed and his lips pushed together.

_Triple Urgh!_

"Wait a minute" Noah blurted out and tried pushing him backward with a minimum of enthusiasm.

Gonzales raised a brow and Noah knew that he wasn't used to being interrupted like this. She would have to make full use of all her charms to make sure that he wouldn't get impatient and go fetch another girl.

"Before that" she said softly and seriously, "I need you to look at me"

All right, play sentimental, this'll only add more to his future joy at throwing you away like an old sock.

"Look at me and tell me what you see"

She straightened up and pretended passing a hand through her curls while she was truly just pressing the download button on the side of her glasses.

Gonzales paused to look at her straight in the eye for several seconds; trying to understand what exactly she expected him to answer and why she was even asking at all.

Finally, he grew impatient and the smirk on her lips started to annoy him. He pulled closer once again and-

"Perfect Noah. The guys are in. Get yourself out now"

The Bug was still drawing closer.

Noah put a finger on his chest and his eyes snapped open at once, this time he was angry but probably not as much as she was.

"Wrong answer" she said before throwing him off the couch and across the room.

-------------------

Really!

Calling her to clean up after Zane and Alec!

She was a back up fully trained agent, not a substitute maid!

Still, the two guards were no longer a threat to anyone. Not now that they were, hands immobilized, bound to one another with some extra rope that she had found in one of the storage rooms. Nope, these two were in for a nice little nap until somebody found them.

When Max got out of the corridor the same way she had gotten in (the _employees only_ door), she headed back for the bar where Ruben was still sipping his drink his back to her.

"Sorry it took so long" Max smirked apologetically, resuming her previous seat "never ending line for the ladies room"

"I suppose it could be a valuable excuse" Ruben shrugged before adding, "if you hadn't headed the total opposite way you were supposed to"

He pointed at some point in front of him. Max followed his finger and her eyes fell on a lit sign that read _Restrooms_ in bright, big, bold letters. A sign you couldn't possibly miss.

_Oops…_

"Ok, so you got me" she complied uneasily "I got lost. Guess I've had one too many drinks" she smirked praying that would be sufficient.

"Somehow, I have the feeling that you're not the kinda girl to get drunk after only two drinks"

_Honey, I'd barely be getting dizzy, that you'd be lying passed out on the floor. _

"Really? And what makes you so sure that you know what kinda girl I am? After all, you barely know me" she tried steering the conversation in another direction.

"Well, then" Ruben said calmly lifting his glass to his full lips, "Surprise me"

Max wondered where her famous repartee had gone to, because just then, she was at a loss for words.

-------------------

The third door on the left side of the corridor had opened on a room that pretty much resembled all the others. However, when you took a closer look, you noticed that the fruit boxes were empty and all the alcohol bottles were filled with water.

Zane and Alec hadn't felt discouraged when they hadn't come face to face with a flight of stairs. Logan's map said that there was a way down and Logan was never wrong. So, they had both started probing the entire room; walls and floors and their efforts hadn't been in vain.

Alec had noted a thin line on the floor that stood out because it was less dusty. He passed one of his nails along it and finally found a tiny whole which allowed him to lift the part of the floor that was the trap door that led downstairs.

They crawled down the narrow ladder, making sure they closed the trap door behind them and arrived in an even smaller room.

"Um… guys?" Alec's voice echoed through the empty room, "Are we sure this is what we're looking for?"

"Positive" Logan told him, "Why would Gonzales go through so much trouble to hide this room if it wasn't what we were looking for?"

Right.

But in the meantime, he wasn't the one standing in the middle of a creepy, dark room a few feet underground.

The guys started scanning the room following the same pattern they had used in the previous room; letting their hands run along the walls and the bare cold floor.

Eventually, one of them pressed something and a light turned on. It emanated from a small screen that had been perfectly disguised behind the wall.

Zane and Alec studied the funny looking device for a second.

The iris scan.

They had no idea how things were going on Noah's side but she had responded to their request much faster than they could've hoped for. Only a few minutes later after they had descended to narrow ladder, another secret door opened and this time, they stepped into a luxurious office.

-------------------

At some point, Max recalled recovering the power of speech. She didn't remember saying anything particularly interesting but at least she hadn't remained stuck in one of Lou's uncle Fred's gold fish imitations.

Ruben really was a complex and interesting character and she was having a hard time trying to fathom him.

He didn't seem the least interested in finding out where she had slipped to when she had pretended to go to the restrooms. Neither did he ask annoying question, she would have to lie to answer anyway.

He was keeping the conversation going, without asking her too many questions and Max, grateful for it, relaxed a bit. She couldn't remember the last time she'd had a normal regular talk with a normal regular person.

Listening to him telling her about how he had learned salsa in his cute Spanish accent was quite pleasant and entertaining -- that is until she noted something unusual.

Max was the back up agent and unlike some people who enjoyed Margaritas a bit too much, she hadn't forgotten about it. While chit chatting with Ruben, her eyes had endlessly traveled through the club, or at least what she could see of it from her seat.

Two guys had entered the club a few minutes ago. Two large gorilla-looking guys both in black suits. Two guys who somehow didn't seem to fit into the rest of the setting.

She had tried keeping an eye on them discreetly enough so that Ruben did not notice she wasn't giving him her full undivided attention. She had lost track of them at some point but they had just popped out again.

And their current attitude was confirming to Max her idea that these guys weren't here for the music or the girls or even the cocktails.

Nope, they were searching for something, and not finding it was etching frowns across their faces. The question was: what were they looking for?

The thing that had just caught her attention was the fact that two other constipated baboon faced guys had just stepped in.

_What? Two more?_

They weren't on the same team as the previous ones though; that much was clear, as not only did they not acknowledge each other, the new comers were covering the same places the first ones had – a tactical waste of time, had they been on the same side.

Max somehow had the feeling that the fact that neither of these two teams could find what they were looking for was, in fact, a very good thing.

"Something wrong?" Ruben asked her and Max realized that her eyes hadn't darted in his direction in the last minute, which was quite impolite.

"Um… no, I just have to…" she paused searching for words and cursing herself for not thinking before speaking.

"Go to the ladies room?" Ruben suggested with a satisfactory smirk.

He knew she was lying and he had known all along. But Max didn't have time to deal with that at the moment.

"Exactly" Max said uneasily before getting up.

Once she was sure Ruben was out of earshot, she started speaking to Lou.

"I think there might be complications"

"What has Alec done now?" Lou sighed though sounding amused.

"No, I mean that there are two other teams here. I think Mackenzie and Johnson might've sent their respective men to recollect the information Gonzales has on both of them"

"Oh"

There was a pause before Lou spoke again:

"Don't worry; Zane and Alec have already opened the safe. They have what we came for. Noah's keeping an eye on a knocked out Gonzales. She'll be joining you as soon as the boys get out, OK?"

Max nodded but still couldn't get rid of the knot that had formed in her stomach.

She slowly walked back to her seat at the counter, near Ruben.

"Something wrong?" he asked again.

"No, things are just… slightly less smooth than expected" Max said.

Her eyes widened as she realized that she hadn't automatically lied or come up with something else. But Ruben merely shrugged and went on:

"Aren't they always? I thought you'd gotten bored from listening to me blabbing about my life"

Max doubted that Ruben had felt so for a single second but nonetheless, she added:

"I think your life sounds thrilling"

"Really?" Ruben snorted, "I think perhaps yours is much more interesting"

"I haven't said anything" Max frowned alarmed.

"Precisely" Ruben smirked, "It's not those who talk the most that we should listen to. It's a mistake people often make. If you wanna hear something out of the ordinary, you have to learn to listen to those nobody else listens to"

Max smiled back and couldn't help admiring the philosophy. Maybe she should've felt worried, anxious at the idea of being in the presence of someone that seemed to know so much about human nature. But she wasn't.

"Of course, the hardest part is to get these people to talk to you as they're not always willing to"

"You could always force them or trick them into it" Max proposed.

"You could" Rube admitted "but it's not half as rewarding as knowing that you've managed to win their affection and trust"

"I guess not but-"

Max was cut off by something Lou told her.

"Alec and Zane are having problems getting out incognito"

Max's head spun around and she saw two things.

First of all, the guys were, in fact, in trouble. Second of all, Noah was coming out of the VIP lounge and her eyes were not on Max but on Alec, Zane and their charming though surely armed buddies.

Yes, two of the gorillas (whether they were Mackenzie's or Johnson's would forever remain a mystery) had just taken an interest in the _employees only_ door. It had only taken them that long to find it.

Still, by an unfortunate coincidence, they had opened the door at the same time Alec and Zane had been coming out. And while these two might not have been very clever, their IQ level still stretched as far as discerning employees of the club from… non employees of the club.

They knew something fishy was going on and they were right in Alec and Zane's way.

Max got up but before she could even make it to where they were, Zane had elbowed one gorilla out of the way and both he and Alec were blurring across the club.

A gunshot echoed, sounding over all of the glass clinging, the music and the talks. The DJ immediately stopped and reached for something under his turntable.

Max had reached as far as the dance floor when she stopped dead in her tracks, looking for both the shooter and the bullet? She would've expected commotions, screams and yells but no, everyone just remained still, like frozen.

She took a look around; she, Alec, Zane and Noah had ended up in the middle of the dance floor, their backs together; the bouncers and all of Gonzales' cronies encircling them… and that meant nearly one third of the club!

Her first realization was that there were a lot of gun barrels pointed in their direction. And she doubted that all their owners had permits.

Her second realization was that Logan was rubbing off on her.

She didn't push the thought any further though as she decided that the situation at hand required her full attention.

The tensed silence was interrupted by something – or rather someone.

The crowd on her right side parted and a man in his fifties stumbled towards them, his face bruised, his mouth opened as he was continuously yelling insults in Spanish, one hand pulling his pants back up and the other pointed at the four X5s.

She heard Noah utter a hushed "Oops" besides her.

Max took some time to recognize the angry and very much ludicrous looking Gonzales. Under other circumstances, she would've laughed right in his face but at the very moment, she thought it wiser to remain still if she didn't want to end up with a bullet in her head.

Gonzales kept on screaming at his cronies till he realized that there were four armed men that weren't even regulars of his club. Max wondered how come no one had noticed Mackenzie and Johnson's men up until then. After all, they were the ones who had started shooting!

Gonzales paused for breath at some point but the silence didn't last till his next fury wave.

This time, it was the crowd on Max's right that parted.

She heard what she thought was a "Shit!" from Zane before she recognized the two Latinos she had tied up herself.

They were screaming and pointing at Zane and Alec, probably explaining how they had ended up locked up in a storage room for nearly an hour.

Max saw Gonzales' eyes widen and she didn't want to be around for when the other shoe dropped. However, trying an attack at this very moment would be pure suicide. The DJ in his cubicle was placed slightly upwards, an ideal position for a sniper. Plus, all eyes were now on them and those weren't all friendly eyes.

As a matter of fact, now that Mackenzie and Johnson's men had been neutralized (at least they showed signs of survival instincts), the four X5s were the center of all the attention.

Gonzales' cronies kept on stepping closer and closer while Max, Noah, Alec and Zane kept on stepping back till they felt the warmth of their backs pressed together and knew they couldn't go any further.

Finally, Gonzales barked in Spanish and four armed men detached themselves from the crowd and made their way towards the four X5s. They stopped in front of Alec and Zane.

Zane lifted his palms up and pulled his head back haughtily as a gun barrel was pressed firmly on his chin. Alec was forced to do the same as one of the man started searching his pockets. Obviously not finding what he was looking for, the man turned to Zane with a scowl.

Max held her breath; the man's hand extended and reached out for Zane's vest when-

Max thought she had closed her eyes though she couldn't remember doing such a gesture. But her cat's eyes adapted to the dark quite quickly and she soon realized what was going on.

_A power break!_

She thanked whoever was up there and was giving her this tiny head start; she remembered from her years in Seattle that power outs were quite frequent in big cities and Las Vegas hardly made any exception.

She blurred in the direction in which she remembered was the club's exit, pushing everything that came in her way. From the muffled screams of surprise and the gun shots, Max guessed that the three others were following her.

She reached the heavy metal door first and burst it open. She welcomed the cool and bitter wave of air that took over her as she did so, before stepping aside in order to let all the others pass. When Zane blurred by, she looked at him and he nodded meaning that yes, he still had the information they had come to collect.

_Good._

Then, as the others were making for the car, she pushed the door closed again, knowing that it wouldn't take long for the power to come back and then for Gonzales to realize that the four X5s had slipped out in all the commotion.

She spun around and was about to start running as Alec had already started the engine when something caught her arm. Her head perked around and she fell face to face with a pair of black determined and intense looking eyes.

_Ruben._

"Don't you know that slipping away without saying good bye is extremely rude?" he said.

Max scanned the lines of his face. In the parking lot's lights, his southern features gave him a scary appearance and even the slight smirk twitching the corners of his full lips gave him a somewhat grim and ghastly side.

Ruben noted her apprehensive stare and snorted:

"Oh, come on Max, if I had been on their side, would I have spent most of the night telling you about my miserable teenage years?"

Max wasn't so easily convinced and her whole body stiffened. She was ready. After all, for all his incredible understanding of human nature, Ruben was still only that, human. And she could send him seeing stars with one flick of an eyelash.

"I also thought I'd give you a chance of thanking me" he added with a hint of pride.

Max's eyes narrowed at this and Ruben's grip on her arm mellowed like backing up his words.

"The power out? It was you?" she said in disbelief.

"Oh, yes Max" he snorted, "Super heroes aren't even that lucky"

"Guess not" Max admitted seriously.

"Even angels need guardian angels" he added smirking.

"And what do guardian angels do when angels leave?" Max asked playing along.

"Well, they do what they do best" Ruben paused for dramatic effect "they go back to dancing salsa" his smile broadened and Max herself couldn't help but grinning at the second most extraordinary ordinary man she'd ever met.

Her head turned around as she heard Noah calling after her. She gave Ruben one last look before giving a peck on the cheek.

He seemed stunned for a second and Max decided that it was an expression that suited him quite well.

"Thank you Ruben"

She spun on her heels and before blurring to the car, her cat's ears picked up:

"You're welcome Dark Angel"

-------------------

"_Now_ can you tell us about part three?" Lou complained to Logan at the dinner table, approximately twenty four hours later.

"Don't worry about that" Logan replied airily, "It's already been taken care of"

Lou's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

She hadn't been asked to play a role in part one; she had been refused the privilege of being a field agent in part two and now, she'd just discovered that part three had taken place without her even knowing about it!

What? Were they trying to keep Posh X5 out of their business? Was this some kind of message they were trying to get through to her?

"It was really all about making sure that no matter what happened to him, Mackenzie would keep his mouth shut about this facility" Logan went on.

As it was, Eyes Only had made extremely good use of the information the four X5s had brought back. Max had said that she might even vote in the coming election!

Mackenzie and Johnson were both out of the sunlight for a while and so was Gonzales for that matter. But Eyes Only had promised that he would protect the facility and Mackenzie, with his knowledge of the transgenic HQ was the biggest threat to their safety.

"And…" Lou drawled expectantly.

"Well, one of you paid Mackenzie a visit he'll never forget"

Lou paused, digesting the information.

"And…" she repeated, waving her arms for Logan to pursue.

Logan was about to open his mouth when a tall someone who had walked up to their table interrupted him.

"Logan" Mole grunted, "Don't forget about my Cuban cigars. I _did_ do you a great favor"

"No worries Mole. Cigars are on their way" Logan smirked satisfactorily.

Logan turned back to his meal as Mole left the cafeteria.

"What was _that_ all about?"

"You know how Mole is" Logan shrugged, "I mean, he was more doing a favor to himself and to you guys than to me but I'm the one who can purchase him a life long supply of smokes"

"Oh my God" Lou said astonished, "Tell me you did not send Mole to convince Mackenzie to shut up"

"That's exactly what you'll have to say if the government asks you the question. But do keep in mind that Mole has excellent negotiating skills"

"Negotiating skills? Is that what you call it? The words 'physical pain' come to mind but hey! It's a miracle Mackenzie even made it out alive!"

"That was part of the deal, otherwise Mole could start sitting in the non-smoking section of restaurants"

A tiny part of Lou was inwardly sniggering at the idea of Mole sitting in a restaurant, bored and sighing in the non smoking section. Then, she caught herself; her lower lip dropped and she seemed really disgusted once more.

Mole had been an essential member of the team when all she had been able to do was make sure Alec got a Margarita spilled on his suit!

_Can you spell injustice and favoritism?_

-------------------

Escaping the facility had been easier than he had expected it too. The only questions he had had to answer where Logan's and Zack's and neither of them had insisted much. Lydecker had no doubt that his departure would have raised a whole lot more questions if it hadn't been for the Eyes Only mission Logan had planned. But Lydecker wasn't about to complain about it.

It was already hard enough to hide from the Committee that he was leaving the facility with one transhuman to Colorado, without the kids putting their noses into it!

He and Joshua were to remain unnoticed and therefore, the plane hadn't appeared like a very good idea. Traveling by car was safer and, as far as Joshua was concerned, it was best. Lydecker only dreaded the attention they would be drawing upon themselves if Joshua felt sick on the plane… He was already turning a funny color in the car.

Joshua would turn out to be an essential key in his reunion with Sandeman. Obviously, the old genius wouldn't be very pleased to see his old rival, but Joshua's presence would change the balance of the equation, the dog boy would confirm Lydecker's sayings which Sandeman, for now, had no valid reason to believe.

Lydecker remembered only too well their last encounter.

The year was 2003. He had just been placed at the head of project Manticore.

Lydecker had always known how to deal with his enemies. Even once you'd won, you should never turn your back on them because they'd be waiting for the right moment to strike back. He had learned that on field when serving in Kuwait. And so, Lydecker had decided to get rid of his old rival once and for all; he had barged into Sandeman's lab located in what was now called Terminal City, with two of his best men.

Sandeman had had the decency to look surprised but hadn't pretended not knowing what was going on. He hadn't protested vehemently, he hadn't yelled for help.

Nothing.

He had gone peacefully. But, at the time, Lydecker hadn't realized the awkwardness of that surrender.

Sandeman was a Familiar… not truly human -- or if human, much better anyway. One X5 could easily take down three men, armed or not. Lydecker now supposed that Sandeman could've done so as well. Then why? Why hadn't he even fought back?

"Oh" the genius had said, "it's you now. I would've invited you to come in but it seems that nowadays, people don't bother with things like that anymore. They just barge in and make themselves at home"

That was all he had said and he had a wife and two kids. He hadn't even tried to resist for them!

Sandeman had looked resigned to the idea of being imprisoned for the rest of his life. Hadn't he wished to see his sons grow? Even though one had turned out to be a lunatic and the other one a murderer… Hadn't he wished to grow old along with his wife?

_Obviously not._

Unless of course, back then, Sandeman himself had realized that this was his best chance at survival. From what Deck knew Sandeman wasn't much appreciated among the members of his little cult. What if they had discovered the truth about Manticore and were prepared to come after him?

The life imprisonment Lydecker was offering him was probably much better than anything the Familiars had in reserve for him. No wonder; in their eyes, he was a traitor, a flaw in their wonderful plan.

It also gave an explanation as to why Sandeman had never attempted to escape from _Powell Institute_. Lydecker would immediately have been warned if that had been the case. Now that he looked at it, Lydecker also realized how easy it would've been for Sandeman to get out and go back to a normal life. But that only would've added Lydecker's men to the list of his chasers.

However, according to the 09ers, a tracked life was better than a trapped life… so what had ever gone through Sandeman's head? Were the Familiars really that powerful and omnipresent that you could never hide from them?

Lydecker was jolted out of his thoughts and memories by the second passenger of this car who was moaning alarmingly.

"Ok Joshua?" he asked casually though a little worried.

"Joshua don't like cars" the dog man replied.

"Like I explained we didn't have much of a choice. But the trip is worth it, you do want to see your father, right?"

Lydecker took his eyes off the road long enough to see Joshua nod.

"Good. Now all you gotta do is keep your mind on that, keep your mind on your father and you'll see you'll forget about being sick"

Joshua nodded with an evident lack of conviction.

"Tell me Joshua, what do you remember about Sandeman?"

"Father was nice, very nice. He liked reading, painting. That's why Joshua likes painting" replied Joshua.

"Yes, I've seen your paintings. They're good. Did he teach you?"

"No, Joshua learned alone" the dog boy said with an obvious hint of pride.

"Let's hope Sandeman'll be able to teach us plenty of things about the Familiars and Max… and Lou" Lydecker whispered more to himself.

-------------------

**End of Chapter**

**Notes: **So there is this deleted scene that I took out because the chapter was already long enough and that I didn't like enough to keep and didn't hate enough to completely wipe out… it takes place right before the mission starts while Logan and the X5s are still in Logan's room discussing the plan. So I post it on my Live Journal and no, s isn't shameless self promotion of my life... I am not doing this to get more comments on my LJ… well maybe just a little lol!

_(edited to add: it seems that fanfiction won't let me post a link so I'll just post the link and on my bio page… how does that sound… so if you wanna read the deleted scene, go to my bio page and click :D thanks) _

_**-------------------**_


	10. Not Quite What You Had in Mind

**Title: **…Happily Ever After

**Author: **Roxy

**Beta Reader: **Rose

**Category: **Action, Humor and Romance. (M/L)

**Rating: **PG 13

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee. I don't own Dark Angel, though Noah and Lou do belong to me. I am making no money out of this.

**Summary: **This is my hit at a 3rd season. Max and the others are trapped in TC, surrounded by White's men. A new little sister comes along. Deck reappears (isn't he just our favorite bad guy?). X5s reunion. More Familiars and how to deal with them.

**Previous Chapter: **Eyes Only is back in the game. With the help of X5s, Logan manages to stop a dangerous thug whose illegal empire was starting to resemble that of a real mafia. Lydecker's still not back from his little trip with Joshua.

**Notes: **All right you M/L shippers are going to be happy with this chapter. I took a long time updating (more than a year... yeah I know...) sorry about that… I'll try to make sure it doesn't happen again but unfortunately it doesn't always depend on me. Just to let you guys know, even if it takes me ten years, I'm going to finish this fic. I'll jsut hope some of you will bare with me till then. There are 22 chapters planned and some of them are already entirely (chapter 13) or partially written (like chapter 12 and 15).

**Feedback: **_BlackRose9: _I just want you to know that I never take your dedication to this fic for granted… I'll never be able to thank you enough for reviewing every single chapter! Now, everybody seemed to have liked the dancing part… good… cuz that was one of the things that aren't just DA but are me as well… Ruben was the name of one of my salsa teachers, though he was nothing near the character. Nope, unfortunately.

_Blueangel137: _You're welcome and thanks again for your review… I'm getting used to reading your reviews as well lol! Glad you liked the new characters… some of them might pop out again in the coming chapters, dunno yet. I did try to put in some M/L for the purists lol!

_Leo:_ Hey there! Thanks for the encouraging review! Hope you'll stick around for a time even though I'm often late on updating!

_Suzy: _I'm glad you actually took the time to read the other chapters… you didn't sound all that interested at first and some of the chapters are kinda long. Well, this chapter took a long time to come, no matter how much I dislike real life taking over fandom, it's happened a lot lately. Hope you enjoy this one… more Max and Logan here and keep telling me what it is that you don't like! Thanks.

**-------------------**

… **Happily Ever After**

**Chapter IX: Not Quite What You Had in Mind**

_Relax Max. Things are going to be ok. It's all going to work out like it always does. You've been through much worse… much, much worse._

Oh and she had: days and months of physical and mental torture, years of being chased by her youth's antichrist, back to torture and then chasing all over again by a whacky cult member…

_Max, you can definitely do this… how bad can be? Two meaningful little days…_

_Breathe in, breathe out… thank god the widow's open._

"You wouldn't mind closing the window Max? It's November and some of us who aren't genetically enhanced are freezing their butts here" Logan said in a light tone.

A light tone? How could he be so relax? Was he absolutely insane?

"Max?" Logan asked again, his eyes switching from the road to the passenger's seat.

This time, the brunette's head jerked in his direction, a wild panicking look on her face.

"Max, are you sure you're all right?"

"Perfect" Max said hurriedly in an unconvincing jolly voice. She nodded vigorously to prove her point and turned her head back to the window.

_Breathe in, breathe out…. Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe-_

"Hey what d'you think you're doing?" Max snapped; Logan had just pushed the button pulling her window up.

"It's called environmental protection. Pointless to have your windows down when the heating system is on" Logan noted.

Max merely shrugged the whole thing off and turned back to focusing on the wonderful post pulse rural landscape. Fascinating grass… it just looked so… green and um… yeah green was the word.

"Max, what's wrong? You've been acting all jittery ever since we left the facility" Logan asked in a worried voice.

Max's eyes turned away from the oh-so green grass to face Logan. The key to a durable relationship was honesty right? So…

"I'm sorry. I don't want you to think that I'm not happy for us to be spending a couple of days together for your birthday, but um… I'm just a little concerned about leaving the whole facility in the hands of Zack. I mean, I know he can do this but with Lydecker not back yet, it seems wrong to be leaving everybody now"

_Honesty… what-ever… _

"I'm sure everything's going to be all right. And if it doesn't, we really won't be that far away. You've had so much pressure and so many responsibilities for so long, I can understand relaxing feels a bit… odd"

Oooh that felt bad too… Truth was, Max had fullconfidence in Zack and in his ability to run the facility… she was just having trouble having full confidence in herself.

_God Max, you are just such an emotional retard! Two days alone with Logan and instead of being absolutely delighted, you're about as comfortable and apprehensive as if you were meeting… his deceased parents!_

This was silly and childish but Max couldn't help it nonetheless. Logan and her had known each other very well for what, three years? They had had feelings for one another for just as long, and the virus had been out of the way for a few months now… everything was smooth sailing and Logan was the one thing stable and solid in her life she shouldn't have to worry about. That's how it was in movies right? The couple gets together at the end and you just as much assume that they live happily ever after…

_Then why?_

Why was she lying to Logan about her feelings concerning this two day trip out of the facility?

Oh, Max knew why… Right after, Logan had suggested the love escape and Max had agreed, she had come to realize that she had never spent two days straight with Logan, _only_ Logan… for forty-eight hours… at breakfast, at lunch, at dinner, in between, in the bathroom, everywhere, all the time!

Sure they now shared a room back at the facility and they had most of their meals together as well, but he was more like the comfort she came to after training, fighting, solving ethical problems and taking delicate decisions regarding her brothers and sisters' safety, when she was near physical and mental exhaustion. She had her own activities and he had his… but for two full days, their only activity would be each other… and even sex has its limits. What if they realized that they had nothing to tell each other, nothing to talk about, that everything had already been said?

This had never happened at the facility because well, they barely had the time to finish a conversation… there was always an interruption: X7s and X8s fighting during training, location of transgenics held hostage by White, the government's committee wanting an audience, Lou begging for someone to get her cherry gum… just about anything.

But not this time… funny enough, Max had never seen these interruptions as a 'save by the bell' thing, more like annoying parasites. But she had learned to deal with them and they were part of her life and therefore also shaped her relationship with Logan. How was she to do without them? It felt like loosing all her references? Like jumping without a safety net…

_Oh my God, two days… that's like enough for Logan to realize that he doesn't want me anymore… that I'm not what he thought I would be… there's been so many hurdles to our relationship that at one point we both had doubts whether or not this was meant to be… we weren't sure if it was worth it all or if we were just wasting our time. But that however tiny part of us that still believed had its own idea on the matter and kept us dreaming, fantasizing on how it could be. What if I'm not up to his expectations? What if I'm not everything he's been dreaming for these past two years?_

It's funny how a few days vacation can torture your mind on questions and matters you wouldn't have the time to deal with otherwise...

-------------------

The car came to a halt as Lydecker parked in _Powell Institute_'s parking usually reserved to employees or important figures… and Lydecker considered himself just that: an important figure.

He glanced at Joshua, making sure the giant dog-man had placed both the cap on his head and the handkerchief on top of his mouth and nose. Lydecker hadn't stepped foot in _Powell Institute_ in twenty years; his unexpected visit would attract enough attention as it was without the employees and his old friend Bernard Callaway, head of the institute, having to face a real live dog-man.

Callaway knew little about Lydecker's assignment at project Manticore. He knew it had something to do with genes but besides that, Deck might as well have been slicing tomatoes it would have been all the same to him, though Callaway had in mind that Lydecker was rather slicing people than fruits but then… Callaway's ignorance of Lydecker's exact occupation reflected the colonel's when it came to Callaway's.

_Powell Institute_ was a mental institute; no doubt that delicate neurological research and experiments were taking place there. Nothing that Lydecker actually knew about but nothing that would surprise him if he did ever find out. His only concern was that the people he sent there remained there, whatever became of them and their minds was the least of his concerns.

His presence had been announced at the gate and Lydecker knew Callaway was aware of it otherwise, the guard would never have let Joshua and him drive in. As he was heading towards the elevator, Lydecker suspected that one of Callaway's assistant would be waiting for him on the first floor. And he was right, as soon as the elevator's doors opened:

"Colonel Lydecker. It's a pleasure to meet you sure. My name is Sonam Sharhminda sir, I work with Dr. Callaway" said a tall tan man with a Hindi accent.

Lydecker inclined his head curtly, politely acknowledging the man. He remembered that Callaway went to extreme length in order to be surrounded by the best scientists in the world; even if that meant dragging them from forgotten countries such as India, Nepal or Indonesia. The assistant merely glanced at Joshua's strange appearance, demonstrating discretion Lydecker knew Callaway valued in his employees and went on:

"If you and your friend will follow me, I will take you to Dr. Callaway's office for I was told that it was quite some time since you've visited the institute"

And so, Sharhminda lead Lydecker and Joshua through the facility and after another elevator ride and a few corridors, they reached a door with 'Dr. Bernard Callaway' marked in shimmering letters. Sharhminda knocked once. Without waiting for an answer, he opened it and stepped back in order to let Lydecker and Joshua enter. Then, he stepped in as well and closed the door behind him.

"Deck!" said the tall skinny man who rose from behind the desk.

Bernard Callaway had not changed much since the last time Lydecker had seen him; he still looked like a man in a terminal phase of cancer. He had a zombie look about him and his tan, wrinkled face and his constant pursed lips did nothing to bring a little cheerfulness to this grim and sinister figure. His black beady eyes held something unsettling that could have valued him a definite role as an extra uncle of the Adams family. An image Callaway played with as it came close to the true creepiness of his character. Callaway could in fact be describe as a lunatic scientist always ready to cross the ethic line without the shadow of a second thought. He and Lydecker had that in common; both shared this vision that human life was negligent in the face of progress and science.

Nonetheless, a fixed smile on his angular face, Callaway walked to Lydecker with open arms. Lydecker smirked and walked towards his old 'friend' in a similar way.

_How hypocritical can you be._

In Lydecker's world, the saying 'No news is good news' took on a literal meaning. Bernard Callaway knew that if Lydecker had turned up for the first time in twenty years, something fishy was going on. The two men had kept contact over the years, doing each other a favor every now and then, nothing that couldn't be settled over the phone. But this unannounced visit was certainly about to reveal something unpleasant, Callaway sensed that much.

The creepy doctor released Lydecker from his handshake and turned to the second uninvited guest that stood awkwardly in his office. The man -- Callaway guessed that it was, in fact, a man -- seemed ill eased and completely out of place with a shirt of an unidentified color and his sharp nailed hands twitching uncomfortably in front of him.

"I'd like you to meet my friend Joshua" Lydecker said as if the giant man didn't require anything else as an introduction.

The sharp nailed hands stopped twitching as one raised and waved in Callaway's direction.

"Hello" said a low, somewhat shy voice.

Callaway was visibly taken aback; amusement twinkled in Lydecker's eyes.

"You may leave us Sonam. Thank you" Bernard told his assistant absentmindedly. "Please sit down" he told his two visitors. And he designated two armchairs with a wide hand motion.

Joshua sat, not nearly as comfortable as Lydecker who acted as if he owned the place… well, he did, if you took into account that one third of the institute's 'patients' had been placed there by him.

"Well, what can I do for you Deck that necessitates you coming here in person rather than just making a phone call?" Callaway asked hardly concealing his impatience.

"Actually, it's not so much you that I needed to see as one of your patients" Lydecker said relaxing in his chair.

"Really? I suppose it would be one that you sent me because you… thought he required medical attention"

"Precisely"

"His name perhaps?"

"Sandeman"

Silence fell across the room as all that could be heard was Callaway's eager typing on his computer keyboard. The impatience stressed his bony features and made him look like an expecting vulture. Of course, only he knew the real names of his so called patients, through a series of codes and passwords held only in his computer… Hadn't it been for this, Sandeman would have been found by the Familiars long ago. This only proved that they weren't everywhere just yet.

"Oh right, that would be the enigmatic Mr. George, number 51 133"

"Excellent" Lydecker nodded with pleasure, "It is urgent that I talk to him… _in private_"

In private… so much meaning held in those two little words… In private meant: no security guards, no cameras, no Callaway, no Hindi assistant, no bugs… nothing… However, Lydecker knew of Bernard's curiosity too well and he wasn't about to rely only on his friend's word, not on a matter as important as this. Lydecker had brought his own equipment so as to make sure communications would be scrambledwhenever he wished to.

However, the sudden apprehensive stillness led him to raise a questioning brow in Callaway's direction. The tall man had stiffened behind his desk and was now taken to chewing his nearly non-existent lip.

"What's wrong?" Lydecker asked, bracing himself for what was coming.

-------------------

No.

No!

This couldn't be happening _now_!

Of all times… it had to be happening _now_!

Logan breathed in slowly, trying to recollect his calm. He tried starting the engine again but it annoyingly made the very same grumbling noise, clearly and loudly stating that it refused to budge.

"What's happening?" asked Max with a frown.

Logan checked the gas level… oops.

"Nothing really. I'll just get the car out of the street and... call a cab" Logan said hurriedly with a smile too wide to be sincere.

"You forgot to check the gas level, didn't you?"

"No, yes… wait… I'm really terribly sorry… I don't know what -- well actually I know what-"

"Logan it's ok. Relax"

Logan looked at her a bit taken aback. Max wasn't upset in the least. In fact, for the first time in the entire day she seemed amused and her brown eyes were lite with mischief, something that he had been missing in the past few hours.

When they had arrived in town, around noon today, Logan had it in mind to spend a perfectly romantic two day getaway with Max, while she had appeared rather distracted and uncomfortable, all along trying to avoid him or avoid talking to him. Not exactly his idea of a romantic escapade.

Still, they had dressed up and taken the car; Logan had planned a perfectly romantic evening, in a perfectly posh restaurant, followed by a perfectly moonlit walk along the coast in this perfectly charming little town… Needless to say he wanted it all to be perfect.

Max hadn't exactly responded the way he had expected her to, to all of this perfectness obsession. He felt the more he was trying to please her, the more she was shutting herself from him. At first, Logan had put this on the count that she was finding it hard to relax because she kept thinking of the facility, Lydecker and Joshua. But now, he was beginning to feel that all this had nothing to do with it.

And now of all times, when he was desperately trying to make things right, the car broke down because he had forgotten one tiny insignificant detail: gas! He had planned every single second of this two day escapade but had completely overlooked the fact that the trip from the facility would consume most of the gas.

Logan had expected Max's boiling temper and everything that she had obviously been hiding from him to burst out at that very second… on the contrary, she was stepping out of the car encouraging him to do the same with a wink.

Logan adjusted his white tuxedo and beamed at Max standing opposite the car. She was simply glowing in Lou's knee length white dress. Her hair she had recently cut, formed short dark curls and reminded him of the first time he had laid eyes on hair.

Logan stared at her a few more seconds, till he could no longer ignore the incessant and impatient klaxons of the car behind them. Max, Logan and their broken down car were after all, in the middle of the street, obstructing the whole circulation. Not that Logan even seemed to care.

"Come on, I could do this alone but probably not without raising suspicions" Max smirked.

"Right" Logan noted and reluctantly turned his eyes away from her.

Logan pulled both their windows down and while he kept a hand on the wheel, both he and Max pushed the car on the side of the street. Finally, when they were both waiting on the sidewalk looking out of place in their formal clothes, Logan pulled out his cell phone in order to call a cab. The trouble with little towns is that very few of them are covered by national mobile networks… And unfortunately for Logan, this town made no exception. Furious but still trying to conceal it, he thrust the phone back in his pocket. They were in the middle of nowhere, just about as far away from the restaurant as from the hotel!

"That's just… _not_ perfect!" he said sighing heavily.

"Cheer up" Max said brightly, "All we have to do is find a phone"

"Right" Logan said moodily, "You've been cooped up in that facility long enough to forget that there are no boxes with working phones on the streets since the pulse"

"Then we'll just have to go ask somebody to lend us one" Max said and placing her hand in his, she led him down the street.

-------------------

"Bernard?" Lydecker said somewhat threateningly.

Finally, Dr. Callaway's eyes switched from the computer monitor to his face. He seemed to have recollected his disconcertingly neutral expression.

"Yes, I remember this. It happened a few days ago. Your patient escaped"

There was a pause, a long, extended pause… well actually, not that long; just long enough for Lydecker to replay the words in his head to make sure Bernard had said what he thought he'd said. It appeared long to Joshua who fidgeted uneasily in his chair.

"Escape?" he finally said through clenched teeth.

"Yes" was all Dr. Callaway thought wise to say.

"Why wasn't I notified?"

Lydecker's voice was rising but Callaway, far from being impressed, kept his zombie manners.

"You must understand that for both of our sakes, the origins of most patients are willingly kept unmentioned, meaning that I do not keep records of who sent me which patients. For most of them, their record starts the day they set foot at the institute. I had no way of knowing that this man was one of yours, except by memory. And then, considering the number of men you send me, you must admit that it is impossible for me to do so"

"When and how?"

Lydecker stressed every syllable in a menacing way.

"Three days ago. He killed two security guards and injured four patients"

Lydecker slowly inspired and Callaway returned to his computer, reading the rest of the file.

"You obviously hadn't mentioned that he should be kept under tight surveillance when you placed him under my care"

"Of course not!" Lydecker exploded. "At the time I thought he was a simple scientist!"

"What about now? What do you think he is?"

When Lydecker didn't answer, Callaway went on:

"He killed two of my men! You owe me an explanation Deck"

"This has nothing to do with you"

"Really? Then how come you placed this man in my hands and left him there for thirty years? Do you know what his file says? "Docile and well adapted", well he didn't seem so damn docile when he murdered two of my men!"

"Come on Bernard! Don't feign feeling sorry for your men! You're intrigued, that's all! You just want to satisfy your curiosity!"

"Even so" Dr. Callaway replied haughtily, "I deserve an explanation. You barge in here, uninvited with your weird looking fellow and demand a man who has unexpectedly turned into a murderer after spending thirty years as compliant as a sheep and you expect me not to ask any questions!"

Both men had risen up by then, and Joshua's eyes expectantly shifted from one back to the other… The news that Sandeman had disappeared came as tremendous disappointment to the dog-man but he hoped that he and Lydecker would at least be able to find some clue as to where Sandeman had escaped to.

"Ok, let's be practical here. I'll tell you what you need to know and I expect you to cooperate in return" Lydecker said finally calming down.

"Isn't that how we've always worked?" Callaway said evenly.

"I need to be sure of a few things first. Take me to the cell he used to occupy"

And Joshua jerked to his feet at the order, impatient to get a little bit closer to his Father.

-------------------

"Max, this is pointless; we're in the middle of nowhere. It's getting late and nobody's going to-" Logan started.

They had left the car behind and Logan was having doubts concerning how much of it they would find once they got back. The side of the road was muddy and the earth was too soft to offer any kind of stable support. No car had passed by in the last fifteen minutes; they really were nowhere at all.

"Think so? Wanna know where this path goes?" Max said pointing at a narrow earthen path on their left.

It led away from the main road and so Logan was rather reluctant to go there but like Max said, there just might be a house at the end of it and that meant that there just might be a phone as well. Logan looked down at his once perfectly white and freshly ironed trousers… they were nowhere near clean and fresh now. So he shrugged it off, followed Max who was already walking along the narrow path and said:

"You are soo dead once Lou sees what you've done with her pair of shoes"

Max stopped to wait for him. She winked and added:

"I'll just score her a new one. What did she say they were? Prada or Channel?"

Logan merely rolled his eyes and thought: _once a thief, always a thief._

They finally arrived at the end of the little road and fortunately enough, Max had been right; there was a house… well, as much as you could call this a house. It looked more like a ruin of a hut and Logan thought that the chances for it to have a phone, let alone an inhabitant were rather… non existent.

Like she was reading his mind, Max pointed to a few flower pots and a swing rocking back and forth with the wind and she said:

"Look! Somebody lives here"

"I feel like I'm in the middle of bad horror movie. Isn't this starting to look so much like a _cliché_? A car breaks down, a couple looks for help and only finds -- Max, what's wrong?"

Logan was looking at her both worriedly and expectantly. She had jumped, startled by something and now her whole body was one tensed muscle. Suddenly, without a word, she blurred forward, forcing her way in through the jammed door and leaving it ajar behind her. A second later, Logan started running after her.

Once inside, Logan found himself in an empty dimly lit corridor. He remained still for a few seconds; not knowing which direction Max had taken.

"Max?" he called loudly.

Yet, it wasn't Max's voice that came as answer to indicate where she was. Logan heard a muffled groan… a fight! Worried, he ran towards the direction he thought the sounds were coming from and ended up… in a kitchen; an old pre-pulse kitchen, cozy and picturesque very much, like the rest of the house.

Max was there and she was lifting up what looked like a dark bundle of clothes. Logan was surprised to hear the bundle usher a croaked "urgh". It was as close to thank you Max ever got. Logan suddenly realized that what Max had helped up and which reached her shoulder was a woman. The wrinkled old lady felt the left side of her head; a slight line of blood was drawing from a cut there. Then her gaze turned downward, resting on the remains of a kettle that had been filled with tea; a sigh escaped her crumpled lips, followed by:

"Oh crap!"

Then she turned on Max who was still holding her arm; her wrinkled features set in a frightening severe scowl:

"Couldn't you have saved the tea as well!"

The tone left little doubt whereas this was a rhetorical question or a reproach; Max's brown eyes widened in surprise both at the words and the energy the tiny woman displayed when she wrenched her arm away from Max's grasp.

The old lady spun on her heels, leaving both Max and Logan staring at her back, slack-jawed.

"Better not be wanting any tea cuz all that's left of it, is what on the floor! Coffee any good?"

Now _there_ was a rhetorical question, still, the lady stopped in her preparation, her back still to her two guests and Max, thinking she was waiting for an answer, felt forced to mumble:

"Um… yes, coffee's perfect"

The lady resumed her actions and Logan caught Max's gaze, waiting for an explanation. She slipped next to him and whispered:

"I heard something break and thought there might be a fight... that's why I rushed in and found her… she slipped on the wet floor and I caught her, but not before her head hit the table-"

"Sugar?" the woman interrupted Max loudly.

"Um… two" Max replied like a shy child who's done wrong.

Logan felt a prick in his ribs when Max elbowed him; the old lady was arching her deformed brow at him because he hadn't answered her previous question.

"Two as well" he said recovering quickly.

The woman went back to her task of preparing a tray with three cups and the adequate numbers of sugar in each. Logan leaned forward and spoke into Max's ear, her curls softly brushing his lips:

"Let's just ask if she has a phone and leave"

"We can stay a while; she probably doesn't get to see people very often"

"Yeah, and with reasons! She gives me the creeps"

"Come on, I doubt she's more dangerous than the Familiars"

"Maybe but-"

Max cringed as she heard the shatter of glass again. She slowly turned to witness the result of this new crash. Max could bet she was going to get an accusatory glare from the old woman.

However, when she came to a stop, Max thought she could feel astonishment mixed with fear in the old lady's frozen stance. The women's hands seemed glued in mid action as she had previously been manipulating the cups and the sugar. However, even though both of them were now spread on the floor, her arms still remained hung like a hanger begging for clothes.

Max was about to break the eerie silence but the old woman cut her off:

"Have you brought _Them_ here?"

Her voice reached unnaturally high tones under the shaking. And as if she had suddenly recovered the use of her body, she ushered Max and Logan towards the door, nearly yelling:

"Are they here? Get out! Out! Out! Out! Tell them the house is empty!"

Logan and Max, taken aback, were speechlessly letting her push them towards the door when finally Logan came back to reality: he stood firmly on the door's threshold and covered her frantic cries by saying emphatically:

"Excuse me lady, but we haven't got the slightest idea of what you're talking about!"

That quieted her a bit but did nothing to soften the taunt expression on her face.

"Don't lie to me boy! And the name's Lydia!"

"Lydia, we can assure you that no one has been following us" Max chimed in.

"No one? Are you sure? Not even… _Them_?" Lydia asked, her voice a shrill as she uttered the last word.

"I don't know who _Them_ are… but they're not following us" Logan stated.

Lydia let go a huge sigh of relief but still didn't invite them back in. She merely stared at them, her arms crossed in a gesture that would have been impressing perhaps forty years ago.

"Well, Lydia, I believe there's coffee waiting for us inside and there are many things we need to discuss"

"Fine for the coffee; not so sure about the discussion part" she grunted but once again, she turned on them and stamped back towards the kitchen.

Max and Logan followed her, understanding this as an implicit invitation. Once they were seated in the kitchen, the smell of coffee steaming from the cups in front of them, Max took the initiative to bring up the sensitive subject.

"You sure got a good hearing Lydia… to hear the F-word while we were only whispering" she said with a wan smile.

"There are some words even old ears cannot forget or pretend they haven't heard" was the crude reply.

Lydia was staring at her cup with great intensity as if it held the ultimate answer to life, the universe and everything. _If she leans any further, she might actually drown in it,_ Max noted.

"How long has it been since you last heard that word Lydia?" Logan asked diplomatically.

"'bout thirty years, since I last saw my grandchildren and my little girl"

Lydia was still not looking at either of them so Max eyed Logan meaningfully, urging him to go on with his questioning:

"Did something happen to them?"

"I dunno" said Lydia desperately, "I never saw the kids again, they took them away… saying they were never mine or my daughter's… that they had a greater destiny ahead of them"

She tried to gulp down the tears forming at the corners of the eyes.

Lydia no longer needed Logan's interrogations to go on, it seemed that she was laying down a huge burden she had been carrying around for thirty years.

"My poor, poor Natasha… and he had seemed such nice and well educated man when they had married. He'd promised he would take care of her and look where she is now!"

The cups made rattling noise as with the hidden strength and energy she had already demonstrated, Lydia slammed her fist down on the table. Then, angry tears started falling freely, following the creases of her wrinkled face.

"I hope he rots in hell!"

"Is he dead… your daughter's husband, I mean?"

"I dunno, maybe… probably… when they caught him with the youngest, they probably punished him because he had tried to take the boy away from them"

"Why did he try to do that?"

"D'you think I know what was going in the head of that nutty scientist! If he got himself killed, that was all he deserved!"

"What happened to the kid after they were caught? Did they punish him to?" Max asked carefully.

"No, I don't think so… they needed him… to swell up their ranks… They're everywhere, that's why I never go out anymore. They probably don't remember me and I'd like to keep it that way"

"Lydia. The Familiars. We're fighting them. And maybe you can help us"

"There's nothing you can do against them. They will win and take over"

"D'you know what they are planning exactly?" Max asked urgently.

"No. All that I know is that they took everything I had, everything that I cared for and left me to rot behind" Lydia spat bitterly.

A strange silence settled among them as Max and Logan were trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together and Lydia sat mourning her lost family.

Maw studied Lydia's anguished face thinking: _OK, so we know that her daughter was married to a Familiar and that she basically finished like Wendy White. The thing is, why would her husband want to take their youngest son away? To take him to the Familiars? Obviously not, otherwise, the Familiars wouldn't have been after him… and what about his eldest son? Why didn't he take him as well?_

As if Logan was reading Max's mind, he asked:

"Lydia? What about the first son? What happened to him?"

"They took him too"

"Yes, but why didn't his father try to escape with him as well?"

Lydia was quiet for a while, thinking back, when she finally

opened her mouth, it was to let out rushed whispers Max barely heard.

"She had confided in me… Natasha… her husband had told her that the child would die, that his people wouldn't let him live because he wasn't strong enough. He knew because he had tested the child's blood in his lab… she had told me a name… Marcus… yes, that's it… Marcus wouldn't allow the child to live. The child had to be strong and pass the test like the first one had… the school they had sent their eldest to, wasn't a normal school… she had started to have suspicions before her husband had revealed it to her. They were teaching him their ways, their horrible ways, so that he would become on of them… and he used to be such a sweet little boy…"

New tears formed in her faded blue eyes and her voice shook with emotion.

"… such sweet little thing… my sweet little Ames"

-------------------

"Thank you Bernard, we'll take it from here" Lydecker said.

Callaway had led him and Joshua to what had been Sandeman's cell. They were about to enter when Callaway proposed:

"My men will gladly assist you in the search of the room"

Lydecker spun around to face his old 'friend' standing in the hallway, one gorilla on each side and a tensed smile stretched on his lips.

"I'm sure Joshua and I will be fine. Besides, haven't your men already searched the room?"

"Yes that's why they may be of some assistance" Callaway insisted.

"No really, thanks for the offer" Lydecker said opening the door.

He ushered Joshua inside and closed the door behind himself. Immediately he drew out a pen from his left vest pocket. The pen looked quite ordinary until Lydecker pulled its cap off. It emitted a noise no human ear could hear but that forced Joshua to cover his highly sensitive ears with his hands.

"Sorry Joshua but that's the only way, I'm sure nobody will be eavesdropping on our little conversation"

Joshua nodded slowly, not quite removing his hands from his ears.

"Can you hear me? Good, now listen closely because I'm only going to have the time to say this once"

Joshua nodded again and Lydecker went on:

"This device blocks communication for a limited amount of time, it was of course designed for humans. I didn't think it would affect you. So we're clear of Callaway's bugs and cameras for another sixty seconds. I want you to search this room. If you find anything, don't tell me until we're back in the car. Once we're back in the hallway, say you haven't found anything, Ok? Now start searching"

With his hands still clapped on his ears, Joshua started casting about the room: it was entirely white and the size of a studio. The sheets had been taken off the bed and the room had no window, its only lights provided by the two lamps sealed in the ceiling. Lydecker could already guess where the cameras were hidden. There was a small sink on the left side of the room and two plugs.

The sixty seconds were over now, however, Lydecker noticed that Joshua still had his hands on his ears. He went quickly to him and nudged in the ribs. Startled, Joshua took off his hands in the process but immediately put them back on. Lydecker frowned, mouthing: "It's over". Joshua shook his head violently and resumed the search.

Minutes passed but neither of them seemed to make any progress.

The room's walls were bare, as was the floor. The more he searched, the more Lydecker had the feeling that they were loosing their time: if there had been anything left behind by Sandeman, any clue at all, Callaway's men had certainly found it.

Frustrated, he went back to the door, opened it and fell face to face with Callaway and his gorillas. Apparently, they hadn't moved.

"You're right, there's nothing here. Sorry to have made you waste your time"

Bernard smiled his sadistic smile:

"Why it was my pleasure to see you Deck? Anything else we can do for you?"

"Not unless you can tell me where your patient went"

"I'm sorry"

"So am I" Lydecker turned around and called back "Joshua! What are you doing boy?"

He and Callaway staggered back inside the room as they heard a sound like several marbles hitting the floor. Joshua was on all fours, trying to grab all those little things at once. He looked like an outgrown child: _and he was the first of a line of flawless soldiers_, thought Lydecker.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Callaway lean down and grab something from the floor. Straightening up, he inspected the thing he was holding between his thumb and index, sniffed it and scowled.

"Candy" he spat, "Where do they come from?"

He eyed Joshua suspiciously. The dog boy stood up and putting on his hands in his shirt pocket, said:

"Joshua made a hole in his pocket"

And Callaway pursed his lips at the sight of one of the dog man's long nailed and dirty fingers passing through his pocket, showing the hole in question. He was holding his candies in his other hand and stuffed them all in another pocket.

"Where did you get those?" Lydecker asked frowning.

"Tiny fella gave it to Joshua" the dog boy mumbled.

"Lou? I might've known" the colonel sighed, "Come on boy, let's get back"

-------------------

The atmosphere in the small dingy kitchen seemed to freeze in stupor. Max heard Logan take in a short breath and even Lydia felt that something was happening. Her sobs stopped abruptly, she slowly lifted her eyes from her coffee and looked at Max from across the table. Max swallowed hard before asking:

"What was the last name of Natasha's husband?"

"Sandeman" Lydia finally said in a raspy voice.

Max sat there, dumbfounded in front of the woman who was Ames White and C.J.'s grandmother. Logan was the one who broke her daze with an unexpected joke:

"Well, sounds like you guys are almost family"

Max snorted uncharacteristically and Logan shortly explained who and what Max was, stressing the fact that if somebody could save the human world, it was her and that they needed any bit of information Lydia had to offer.

The old lady took her head in her hands and for a time, all Max could see of her was a tame of white hair covering tanned, creased fingers. _She looks so fragile on the outside when she is so strong, having endured all that she has. Do we all finish old and beaten like this? _Her eyes turned to Logan, he seemed thoroughly thinking all this over. _Will there come a time when he looks like her and I'll still look the way I do? Who knows what Manticore has in store for us? Sandeman, how many other secrets are you keeping from us? _

"Lydia, didn't the kids tell you anything? Didn't Ames ever tell you what it was he was doing in his school?"

"No, I'm sorry. I know nothing. Wait! There was a poem or a child's song he told me once. I found it terribly sad and awful for a child to be saying such words. When I asked him where he had learned it, he told me 'at school'. I should've known at the time, maybe things wouldn't have turned out as badly as they have-"

"None of it is your fault Lydia. The Familiars are responsible" Max said resting a friendly hand on the woman's arm.

"_When the night comes within a day,_

_And the Earth bares the Great Warrior,_

_The Weapon is his to honor,_

_Then all shall bound and do his way_"

Lydia recited it without a hesitation, like she was the one who had learned it in school.

"That's all I can tell you" she said, her head falling in a gesture of defeat on her chest.

"That's more than we've had in a long time. Thank you Lydia" Max said gratefully.

"I'll tell you how to contact us, if you ever remember anything else or need help for anything" Logan added resuming his Eyes Only role.

-------------------

Lydecker and Joshua were back in the car and had just exited _Powell Institute. _The colonel leaned back in his seat, putting more space between him and the steering wheel.

"Well, we went a long way for nothing and you can bet that if Callaway's found anything, we won't get our hands on it in this lifetime" Lydecker sighed heavily, "Yet another dead end"

Joshua had taken off his handkerchief and had started chewing on another one of Lou's candies. His mouth full and fighting against the stickiness of the chemical substance, Joshua managed to articulate:

"Crazy doctor has found nothing"

"What makes you so sure?"

"Cuz Joshua found"

Lydecker's foot pressed on the brake pedal a bit too abruptly and the dog boy was choking when the car came to a halt.

Joshua started coughing rather violently and turning a nasty green color before Lydecker could intervene. Under the fear of not being able to breathe anymore, Joshua was thrusting his arms and legs everywhere; and several times hit Lydecker in the face before the latter could help him; the mixed choking sounds, groans and screams created a strange commotion in the car.

Finally, Lydecker pulled his left arm way back and brought it down hard against Joshua's back. A pink bit of candy flew out of Joshua's mouth in a throwing up noise. Its trajectory was halted by the car's windshield and it fell back to the dog boy's huge feet, leaving a trail of saliva on the pane.

Both Lydecker and Joshua were panting for obviously different reasons.

"Thank you" Joshua managed to say.

"Some soldier you'd make" Lydecker said, expressing out loud his earlier thoughts, "What did you find?"

"This" said Joshua drawing from his pocket a device as big as one of his candies.

"What is that?" Lydecker asked taking it in his hands.

"Father left it for me"

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because Joshua can hear"

"What do you mean?" Lydecker asked.

Then, he recalled the dog boy clasping his hands on his ears even after his pen device had stopped emitting and he understood.

"This thing is emitting something"

Joshua nodded.

"Is it still emitting?"

Joshua shook his head and said:

"Joshua turned it off. Headache. Bad headache. Too loud"

"But what did it say?" Lydecker urged him.

"Morse code. Always the same message. S.E.A.T.T.L.E."

"Seattle. After all these years, Sandeman is going back to Seattle. What about the Familiars? Isn't he afraid of them anymore?"

Joshua shrugged and was about to have another candy, but at the last minute he pulled it back and eyed it suspiciously.

"Candy bad in car"

"Good job Joshua. I take back what I just said. You would've made a great soldier"

Joshua blushed and seemed to glow with pride for the rest of the drive.

-------------------

Having abandoned the idea of going to the restaurant, Max and Logan were back in their hotel room.

Max had just hung up Logan's mobile. Having failed to contact Lydecker, she had kept Zack informed of the day's developments. She had mentioned the idea of her and Logan aborting their little sojourn but against all odds, Zack had objected, stating that there was nothing they could do about it right now and that this could wait another twenty four hours. This didn't resemble Zack in the least and Max rightfully had the idea that Noah was also on the other end of the phone.

She smiled weakly before walking to the bed where Logan was lying, several pillows tucked beneath his head. The sheet of paper which had been blank when she had dialed the facility's number was now filled with Logan's writing. Max regarded this habit of leaving a written trail as dangerous but she knew Logan needed it to get a more general aspect of a situation.

"Zack says we can come back tomorrow night like we had planned"

"Sounds like Noah was in the same room" Logan noted, not taking his eyes away from the paper.

Max snorted at this and sat on the bed next to him.

"_When the night comes within a day,_

_And the Earth bares the Great Warrior,_

_The Weapon is his to honor,_

_Then all shall bound and do his way_" Logan repeated.

"When the night comes within a day… When's the next sun eclipse?" Max asked.

"This summer, I believe" Logan said "I'll have to check the exact date when we get back at the facility"

"I wonder who this Great Warrior might be"

"Maybe some unique kind of Familiar"

"Kinda like the kid I met at Ray's school? The telekinesis?"

"Maybe"

"This just keeps on getting better by the minute, doesn't it?"

"Actually it does. At least, now we have a precise date and maybe if we can lay our hands on this Great Warrior before he gets his Weapon, we could stop this"

"I bet that they have him under tight surveillance"

"It was just a suggestion. I'm gonna need to do some research as soon as we get back"

"So much for the romantic escapade" Max noted, sighing.

"You didn't seem to keen on the idea at first" Logan said, tilting his head at her.

_So he had noticeed. Time to be honest,_ Max thought. She drew in a sharp breath before letting it out slowly and saying;

"True. I was kinda… nervous… but it seems I was wrong to be. Looks like we'll never be a normal couple"

"Oh, so that was what was troubling you; a normal couple, afraid of the boring routine?"

He leaned forward and dragged her into his arms. She let herself go and concentrated on his slow, regular breathing.

"Max, didn't I tell you a while back you'd never be a regular anything?"

"Yes and I remember saying that I would try anyway"

"Yeah, well you don't really have the best track record here so you might as well stop trying"

"I just though it was what you wanted"

"You're forgetting who you're talking to. Eyes Only isn't exactly a regular hobby"

"But you sounded so excited about these two days and you seemed to want everything to be perfect. I just wasn't sure I could actually be _that_ perfect"

She put her arms around his waist and clung to him.

"I was glad to have you to myself for once and not have to share you between training and your role as the head of the transgenic"

"But it seems that no matter where we go, we can't escape it"

"It does seem so, but I've spent two years not having you at all, I think I can go with having just a bit of you till this summer"

"You might not have me at all after this summer… Who knows?"

"I do. We'll live through this Max. We will" Logan said emphatically.

Max sighed and closed her eyes, trying to let Logan soothe her as he passed his fingers through her dark curls but she kept wondering; _Sandeman has so many secrets? Maybe the only way I can save my people is to die? What of Logan after that? Have we just overcome the virus problem to make it a bit harder for us to separate? _

_Who knows? _

_Sandeman does._

**-------------------**

**End of Chapter**

I know better than just dropping on my knees and beg you guys for reviews; so, I'll just sit back, relax and count on your doubtless sense of responsibility and commitment.

snorts

Yeah right…

drops on her knees

Oh please, please, pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaase review.


	11. DNA Victims

**Title: **…Happily Ever After

**Author: **Roxy

**Beta Reader: **Rose

**Category:** Action, Humor and Romance. (M/L)

**Rating: **PG 13

**Disclaimer: **This story is based on characters and situations created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee. I don't own Dark Angel, though Noah and Lou do belong to me. I am making no money out of this.

**Summary: **This is my hit at a 3rd season. Max and the others are trapped in TC, surrounded by White's men. A new little sister comes along. Deck reappears (isn't he just our favorite bad guy?). X5s reunion. More Familiars and how to deal with them.

**Previous Chapter:** Lydecker's search of Sandeman revealed to be a failure. He and Joshua are on their way back. Logan and Max are out of the facility, celebrating both the end of the virus and Logan's birthday. They come across an old superstitious lady who mistakes Max for an angel on a mission to save the world. Lydecker and Max gone, Zack is left in charge of the whole facility.

**Feedback: **First thing's first: I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Now onto the chapter: he, he, he… I was devilishly rubbing my hands at the idea of re-writing this chapter… Hope you've had enough fluff in the previous chapter cuz this one's all about raw emotions, ripping, grabbing and um… taking. Enjoy, he, he, he…

_BlackRose9: _Ah, nice to know that you're still around and reading… I thought you might all be gone after I took so long updating… about Lydia's introduction… it's kinda hard to re-write something that you wrote when you were 16. Sometimes there arethings that I want to change but can't and at other times, I'm just so caught in the story that I can't think of any other way to write it. And sometimes it works out fine and others, it feels really awkward… like I was saying on LJ, I can soo tell that some parts were taught up by a teenage, not that I'm so much more mature now lol but still, four years makes a difference… I hope lol! Thanks for still being here and reviewing!

_BlueAngel137:_ He, he that you're still around lol! Well you know, when you're aware that you're using a cliché you might as well tell your reader that you're aware of it and doing it on purpose lol… makes it easier for the reader to swallow the pill or so to speak lol! By the way, love that song too!

_ThisIsWhereMyNameGoes: _True there aren't many Sam fics around, though I remember reading a really good one with another one of Max's clones… can't remember the title and I don't think it will ever be updated… too bad… I think it's gotta be listed somewhere in my favorite fics if you're interested. Anyway, thanks for the review and yes, I shamelessly beg for them… I'm just such a feedbackwhore lol… I'm not sure I can include Sam… I'll have to think about it though… thanks for reading and reviewing!

**-------------------**

… **Happily Ever After**

**Chapter X: DNA Victims**

Zane knocked on the door of Lydecker's office. He didn't wait for an answer to open the door to step in.

The colonel hadn't returned yet which was why Zane was knocking in the first place. Zack had enough work with keeping the whole facility going and Max not being around wasn't helping; he hadn't been at breakfast at all and so, Zane knew he was bound to find his brother here.

"Hey Zane, what's up?" Zack mumbled even worse than usual with a piece of paper stuck between his lips while his hands rummaged through some more, putting an incredible mess on the usually so-perfectly-ordered desk.

"I kinda got a favor to ask you" Zane said his hands in his pockets, appearing a little uneasy.

"What can I do for you?" Zack asked, stopping all his action and taking the piece of paper out of his mouth.

"I need to go to L.A. I'll be back in twenty four hours. It's personal and I don't really wanna talk about it"

"Look man, I can't just let you out like that. It's not just your safety on the line here, I'm gonna need more than just the it's-personal excuse" Zack shrugged apologetically.

A silence fell between them and Zane stared blankly at a spot on Zack's right.

"My father died five years ago. Exactly five years ago" he finally blurted out.

"Your father?"

"My adoptive father" Zane corrected.

Zack knew that among the 09ers, Lou wasn't the only one who had benefited from loving parents. Zane even had brothers and sisters. Still, he didn't want to get too deep into the subject of Zane's father's death.

After all, Max and Logan were due today and Lydecker tomorrow or the day after that at the most, so-

"Sure you can go to L.A."

"Can I borrow a bike from the facility?"

"Course"

"I'll make sure I'll be back before Lydecker is. You won't even know I'm gone" Zane smirked though his smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Don't worry about that" Zack shook his head, "I assume the consequences of my actions. Go ahead"

"Thanks" Zane nodded before exiting the office and Zack went back to rummaging through his papers; at least, until his stomach started rumbling and he was reminded that he hadn't eaten anything yet.

-------------------

"-said that Deck had abandoned us because he was retiring some place sunny with his long lost love and that they would adopt Joshua" Syl snorted.

"Wait, wait, wait! I have the best one yet! Yesterday, Gem told me she'd overheard two transhumans saying that they thought Lydecker had left with Joshua because he had a lead on Sandeman, the one who's said to have created Manticore" Jondy smirked.

Noah, Syl and Jondy were having breakfast and the cafeteria was packed with trannies. The girls were comparing the different rumors concerning their colonel's flee of the facility with the dog-man.

"Like Lydecker would even know where to find the guy in the first place" Noah scoffed.

"Yeah, but my personal favorite remains the one in which Joshua has-"

Syl's voice trailed off as she noticed Posh X5 walking towards their table. What caused her mouth to drop open seemed pretty obvious to the rest of the cafeteria as well.

Instead of her usual tracksuit, convenient for training, Lou was wearing an outrageously mini skirt and a white see through tank top which displayed a great deal of her flat stomach or maybe that was because the mini skirt was a bit too low… Syl couldn't quite make up her mind on that.

Lou placed her tray on the table sat down next to her, facing Noah and Jondy.

"Geez, have they finally switched on the heaters or what?" she said fanning herself with her hand.

"I don't think there even _are_ such installations in this facility" Noah joked.

"Um… nice… clothes" Syl said half amused.

"Yeah, it's gonna come really handy when running through the woods" Jondy added indulgently.

"We _are _in fall Lou and this _is _the mountains" Syl stated.

"Thank you for enlightening me Syl" Lou said ironically, "What are you guys so uptight about, I just got tired of wearing the same old rags everyday"

"Right, aren't we more interested in impressing somebody in particular?" Noah said looking away innocently.

"I'm afraid I fail to see your point Noah"

Then, she looked down at her plate with certain disgust, pushed it away.

"Not hungry?" Jondy asked concerned.

"Nope" Lou said casually, "Not for _that_ anyway" she added almost to herself and her eyes seemed to loose their focus.

Noah, Syl and Jondy went on chatting but Lou didn't join in. She was eyeing the room or more pointed its occupants and it seemed its occupants were beginning to become of aware of a few things themselves.

"God, why is it so hot in here?" Lou sighed after a few minutes.

Syl raised her brow and looked from her own turtleneck sweater to her baby sister's short, sleeveless top.

"Are you sure you're ok? You look flushed"

But Lou wasn't listening anymore. She seemed much more interested in smiling at those sitting down at the table on her left… composed exclusively of X6 males.

Noah's eyes widened in horror. She sniffed the air and turned her head towards Syl and Jondy.

"Pheromones" was all she whispered urgently.

"What? Lou, honey? Tell me you were placed under a contraception program like the rest of us" Jondy asked nervously though she knew the answer.

"Um…" Lou let out absentmindedly.

"You don't think-" Jondy started.

"Do you have any other explanation?" Syl cut her off.

"We gotta get her outta here before this place starts looking like WW3!" Noah said standing up at once, grabbing Lou by the arm and yanking her to her feet.

"What is up with you?" Lou said irritated, trying to get away from her older sister's grip.

"Half of the males in this room have feline DNA and are therefore receptive to your pheromones!" Noah said hurriedly.

"My what?"

"Lou! You're in heat!"

"What? Of course not, last time was only-"Lou paused realizing with horror that the last time she had gone in heat, she hadn't even heard of Terminal City, "Bloody hell! I'm in heat!"

Under other circumstances, Noah would have made fun at the way her sister's British education tended to resurface whenever she got carried away, but right now was not the ideal moment. She glanced at what was going on around them and realized that several males were already eyeing Lou in a way Mrs. Wilson would certainly not have appreciated.

"Come on! We gotta get you out of here!"

Syl and Jondy got up simultaneously; both of them grabbed one of Lou's arms and supported her as if she was sick.

"Ok now, nice and easy, we-"

"Hey Lou, feeling all right? Need a hand?" X5 472 Devon asked with a look that suggested he was looking at a yummy looking slice of chocolate cake.

"Move over Devon, unless you wanna be put in a world of pain" Syl said elbowing him out of her way.

But Devon grabbed her arm and pulled her back, pulling Lou back to him as well.

"What you gonna do to me, blondie?" he asked defiantly.

Syl opened her mouth to answer but she was cut off:

"I think you should listen to the lady, Devon and mind your own business"

Great.

It was Alec.

He advanced on them with the expression of a predator. Lou, who until now had been trying to shake the heat out of her by not looking at the hotties surrounding her, restraint melted away.

"Hey you" she said, her voice like purr.

"Hey yourself" Alec addressed her his trademark smile.

"You gotta a problem Alec?" Devon asked defiantly.

"I think I speak for everyone when I say: I was doing pretty well until _you_ showed up" Alec shrugged, looking quite relaxed.

"I think both of you are being pains at the moment" a younger X6 intervened.

Lou raised her head, smiled and passed her tongue to her upper lip. The young man seemed lost in space and time.

"Shut up Jay! This isn't a school playground" X5 418, Luke joined the party.

All of the males who possessed feline DNA in their cocktails (as Joshua would have put it) crowded around the four girls and Lou kept looking from right to left, to right again, smirking and winking and trying to get away from her sisters but Noah, Syl and Jondy held on tight.

Suddenly, as the voices were getting louder and louder and the first few punches were being thrown, someone broke into the crowd and reached Noah's right side.

"Zack? Oh no, you gotta-" she looked at him with pleading eyes.

"I'm gonna free the way, you girls get her out of here" he whispered in her ear.

Noah looked at him in disbelief.

"But you're not-"

"Affected? Oh, I am. But I have a thing that helps counteracting the pheromones' effect. Excess canine DNA, remember?" he winked at her.

Noah smirked, that was one thing off her back: not worrying about her boyfriend wanting to jump her sister's bones!

She glanced at Syl and Jondy and they nodded. They eluded as many lost punches and kicks as they could and dragged Lou towards the exit. Hopefully, most of the men were more concerned with fighting and proving they were the alpha male, than in actually looking for the source of this mayhem.

-------------------

Lou had managed to get out of the cafeteria with the help of Jondy. Unfortunately, Syl and Noah had been somewhat delayed. They were still inside: probably trying to prevent any male from getting through the cafeteria's doors. However, a back door did exist and it might not take as much time as the girls hoped it would for at least one of the males to remember that crucial detail.

Jondy was fully aware of all this. One hand so firmly wrapped around Lou's arm that it would most certainly leave bruises, thoughts were racing through her mind at a speed only a transgenic could achieve. She needed to get Lou some place safe… some place no male would find her at least temporarily. Bind her there somehow so that she would have time to alert security about what was going on in the cafeteria. Jondy hoped they wouldn't take too long to notice it on the video cameras. But even if they did, she wanted to be sure that they didn't hurt anyone during their intervention… nor get hurt for that matter.

If Lou didn't hook up with one of the males now, this could go on twenty four hours. Maybe it would be faster to lock Lou up with one of the males… But Jondy couldn't quite bring herself to make that decision when she looked down at her little sister… even though the latter seemed a million miles away and was probably going to try and escape from her any chance she got.

Decisions, decisions… Like Joshua always said, 'Safety first'. She needed to make sure her little sister was safe before she could go supervise the security guys.

She started running down the corridors, unceremoniously dragging a semi-willing Posh X5 along and making a spatial map of the facility in her head. The farthest corner from the cafeteria was the southern building where was the girl's bathroom.

Good, Lou could use a cold shower.

But Jondy needed something for the binding. Surely Lydecker had a set of handcuffs in his office. She sure hoped so because that was where they were heading.

-------------------

Lou could feel the sweat running down her back and making her already see-through top stick to her back and chest. She was so tired of running but Jondy didn't seem like she was about to let her go or to stop.

Lou wasn't quite sure as to why they were running, least of all what they were running from… everything in her brain felt so clouded. Maybe she had committed another mistake and Lydecker was after her again; when had he ever stopped anyway? That was probably it.

But that didn't quite explain her strange feeling of wanting to run the opposite way Jondy was heading. Lou felt like going _towards_ the danger. Something inside her was telling her that it would be far more… exciting. And what was the point of being an X5 if you couldn't follow your instincts?

Lou was trying to make her point but Jondy wasn't paying attention to a single word she was saying. Lou couldn't quite blame her; she wasn't sure she was making a lot of sense. It all felt good, but once put into words, it somehow didn't quite have the same impact.

Words having failed, Lou was now trying to pull at her sister. But Jondy only seemed to tighten her grip. Her fingers were getting slippery but at no point did she let go.

Lou could feel a throbbing pain emanating from her arm. Somehow it brought her back to a dark, humid room at the back of a chapel and other horrid pains and incredible fear… Lou didn't exactly remember the events that had taken place, it felt more like something that's on the verge of your tongue but that you don't seem to be able to get out. The fear and the pain, however, were quite vivid in her memory.

She froze in her place and disrupted Jondy's progression enough for her sister to stop and turn around.

"What is it?" Jondy asked frowning deeply, hardly out of breath.

"I… I dunno… I don't… feel so good, I guess" Lou stammered.

Jondy's look softened and she cupped her sister's face with her free hand and said:

"Don't worry, I'm going to take care of you, 'k? Everything's going to be all right. We're going to Deck's office to get handcuffs and then we're going to lock you up the girl's bathroom. Got it?"

Lou nodded unconvincingly. It didn't make her feel any better.

Something was creeping up inside her, threatening to overwhelm her totally and make her loose control. She didn't want it to be the fear and the pains and so she fought back as best as she could. But her arm was still hurting and her brain still fogged up. She couldn't recall anything in detail and that terrified her. She felt like prey… a hunted vulnerable prey.

She heard noises coming from behind her. Or rather, she felt Jondy stiffen beside her and saw her look apprehensively in the noises' direction. Lou felt too dazed to pay attention to anything. As fast as it had happened, Jondy relaxed and a loud sigh escaped her tighten lips.

It was only the security guards. Finally.

Lou heard Jondy briefly explaining the situation. One soldier asked if it wasn't better to take Lou to the medical department and Jondy replied something about it being too late and that going to the medical wing implied passing in front of the cafeteria again and that was out of the question. The pheromones weren't going to stop anytime soon and so they should use tranquillizers on the male subjects and definitely not on Lou.

"I'm not sure we'll have enough tranquillizers" the soldier pointed out.

"You will if you don't shoot at random and only target those with feline DNA" Jondy said severely.

"Beg your pardon Mam, but how do we know?"

Jondy opened her mouth to reply then seemed to think better of it.

"I'll be with you. But three of you need to take her to the girl's bathroom and make sure that she's handcuffed to something and locked up in there. Plus, those three will have to stay on guard"

"We're already outnumbered. We can't leave three men on guard!" the soldier protested.

"We won't be outnumbered. I'll be on your side and so will all the females and the transhumans!"

The soldier seemed to doubt the efficiency of a group composed only of females and un-human looking creatures but Jondy's look suggested that she would gladly make demonstration if he objected again. So the soldier kept quiet and merely designated three of his men to escort Lou.

"Something else Mam" the soldier addressed Jondy.

"What?"

"Colonel Lydecker's car was being sighted at the gates when we left to find you"

"Shit" was all Jondy thought of replying.

-------------------

Saying he was upset didn't quite cover the extent to which his anger went. He was angry at himself for not thinking of reaching for Sandeman earlier, angry at Callaway for letting Sandeman escape, angry at Lou for making a mess of everything though that hardly came as a surprise, angry at the facility's doctors for letting something like this happen, angry at Zack and Max for not being able to manage a few days without him, angry at the Familiars for laying all this on his shoulders… pretty much angry at the whole world actually.

"How could something like this have happened?" Lydecker asked for the thousandth time since Jondy had arrived to clarify the situation.

The Colonel slammed his fist down hard on the surveillance room's desk.

He was looking furiously at the screens that displayed what was going on in the cafeteria from different angles. The three doctors that had cared to join him and his head officers stiffened before one of them patiently explained yet again:

"X5 515 is young, much younger than the other X5s. In fact, she should be classified as an X6. The problem comes from the fact that when we went through the contraception program when they all moved in, we did this series by series"

"And we thought that as far as the X series were concerned, the classification was to be made regarding their age. So she must've been registered as an X6 while we were doing the first phase of the program on the X5s females"

"And when we started on the X6s females, she simply didn't appear on our list. The mistake must've been corrected without her ever having been treated and-"

"But you had all of their records! All of their names and designations and the series to which they belonged! How could you not have noticed that one was missing?" an infuriated Lydecker interrupted.

"With all due respect Sir, if you wanted experts than you should've hired your previous colleagues and not us newcomers. We're doctors, not veterinarians!"

Jondy's eyes merely glared at the doctor who had uttered those words but her brothers and her had all heard worse from ordinaries. She just felt glad for him that Max or Syl wasn't there, otherwise they would have showed him just what kind of animals they could be.

Lydecker however, spun to confront the doctor with an expression even Max would have shied away from.

"Never again will you speak this way about my kids"

He didn't yell but it only rendered the threat more effective. A heavy silence filled the room, that was, until-

"Look!" Joshua pointed at one of the screens "Here's Zack!" he added enthusiastically.

And true to Joshua's word, there was Zack fighting with two younger protagonists. And he was clearly having the upper hand, but his two opponents were much more self confident, overzealous and stubborn than usual. Lou's pheromones gave them wings, or so to speak.

The problem was that even though a small number (proportionally speaking) was being affected by Lou's heat condition, the entire cafeteria was fighting. Females with males; transhumans with X series. Most of them probably weren't quite sure why, but a random blow during breakfast was reason enough for most.

Lydecker privately noted that perhaps they weren't getting enough training and then went back to dealing with the current situation.

"Get all the tranquillizers you can get. I'd like to avoid anyone getting injured"

"On either side" he added correctly reading the expression on his soldiers' faces.

As Jondy added that they should take guns to Zack, Syl, Noah and the others as well, Lydecker just hoped that some of the affected males would not require double dozes of tranquillizers.

-------------------

The soldiers weren't as pressing as Jondy had been, but they did have nasty looking guns and one was pointed at her back. Its edge was unpleasantly knocking in her backbones each time the owner of the gun took a step.

One behind her and two on either side. The corridor was just large enough to let the three people walk side by side but still Lou felt overpowered, intimidated and ill at ease.

Jondy had said that everything was going to be all right. But Lou could feel that it would not. As unfocused as she was, she still smelled it and heard it before any of the three soldiers did.

To them, Devon had jumped out of nowhere. They were surprised to say the least and Lou should have felt lucky for the fact that the soldier behind her did not pull the trigger of his gun from being startled.

She managed to pull away as none of the members of her escort seemed to pay any attention to her anymore. Devon was the far greater danger on the short term. Bad instinct.

What happened after that took place in a blur and days later, Lou still couldn't quite place all the events in the correct order. Standing flat against the wall, Lou tried to recollect herself, concentrating on the cold concrete behind her and on her breathing that was coming in gasps.

She was trying to order her eyes shut so as not to notice the way Devon's chest muscles appeared under his gray shirt when he punched the first soldier and grabbed his gun. The way his chocolate hair flew when he blurred to avoid the two other soldiers' shots and then the way it fell back in place. That confident, surely cocky expression that formed on his fine face as he took out the second soldier.

That something building inside her was making itself louder, strongly banging on the mental barriers she had erected so as to contain it. She could feel those very same barriers thinning and thinning and dreaded the moment they would leave her defenseless… facing Devon.

Lou saw the first soldier struggle back to his feet, recover the second soldier's gun and aim it at Devon's back. She didn't stay to witness the rest, not knowing what to do (come to Devon's aid or to the soldier's?) she fled. Trying to get as far as she could away from whatever was banging on her inner walls was threatening to overpower her and from the sight of Devon which made her body react in a way she couldn't control.

She fled and didn't turn around when she heard several gun shots.

-------------------

The backdoor… most hadn't even thought about it. They were too busy keeping their eyes on the prize to think strategy.

Losers.

Not just anybody turned out to be the alpha male. And he wasn't just anybody. He could smell her; she wouldn't be too hard to track down. The chase only added to his excitement. He didn't remember having ever been this tensed, excited and… simply alive.

He was getting closer and felt no real need to hurry.

Not just anybody turned out to be the alpha male…

-------------------

Lou had made it to Lydecker's office somehow… half running, half stumbling, barely remembering why she wanted to go there in the first place.

She put a hand on her heart and thought it might jump out of her chest if it beat any faster. She was covered in sweat and her breathing was coming in pants and gasps.

She tried pushing the door to Lydecker's office open.

It was locked.

She pushed again before realizing that if she didn't try hard enough, she would never be able to get in.

And she wanted so desperately to get even though she couldn't quite remember why at that precise moment… she just had to keep going.

Panic threatened to overwhelm her… panic and that other something that she was trying so hard to push away.

A loud sob died in her throat and she elbowed the door once again and this time, she heard it crack. This unexpected victory over the lock found her fallen, inelegantly spread on the floor due to the power of her own blow.

She scrambled to her feet, supporting herself on the desk. Once she was sure that she could stand on her own, she let go of it and started rummaging through the drawers, making a mess of all the papers that Zack had put into order the very morning.

She pulled everything out of its container, spreading papers, pens, disks, everything and anything on the floor, till she couldn't take a step in the room without hearing things breaking and crumpling beneath her.

She knew she was looking for something but couldn't recall what it was until she finally had it in her hands… handcuffs.

Yes, she was running, but from none but herself. She was going to be all right, Jondy had told her so. Everything was going to be ok now that she had the handcuffs.

-------------------

That was how Devon found her.

In the middle of what had previously been Lydecker's maniacally organized office; among papers and garbage, holding a pair of handcuffs like a prize.

Well, he had found his… his prize and she wasn't getting away this time.

He took a step into the room and felt several objects crack under his shoes and stilled, waiting.

She slowly turned around, an uncertain look in her eyes. It didn't last long though. Very soon, Lou knew exactly what and why she was here at that precise moment. And most of all, she knew what she wanted. And for once, she wouldn't have to beg for it.

She raised her hand that was holding the handcuff and without ever breaking eye contact, she threw the pair against the wall where it fell with a metallic thud.

Devon barely waited for the noise to die out before he rushed towards her and crashed her against the desk in his haste. His demanding mouth reached for hers and a violent exchange of tongues and teeth started.

Lou could feel his firm fingers all over her body. So eager was he to take possession of her, that Jondy's bruises were probably going to look like scratches near his.

She cared little for the whole matter so intensely was she caught up in the primitive-branding process. Her nails dug deep into the soft flesh of Devon's back and she heard him moan as she did so.

Her teeth sank into his ear lob probably harder than intended and his hand gripped her wavy brown hair, brutally pulling her hair back to gain better access to her mouth.

Suddenly, they broke apart… unwillingly and involuntarily.

Lou barely registered what had happened. She fell over the desk and her head hit the wall.

It took her a few seconds to recover and be able to open her eyes again.

She shut them closed as soon as she saw what was happening and didn't reopen them for another few seconds.

Doing this, however, changed nothing of what taking place in Lydecker's office: Alec was here.

He seemed to have hit Devon in the back with a chair… which explained why Lou was on the floor at the moment.

Devon, however, had taken much less time to recover. He was already on his feet when Alec was aiming a second chair-blow at him.

He gracefully avoided the hit and replied with a rightfully aimed kick that Alec blocked with the chair.

This time, Alec threw the chair to the side; obviously preferring arm to arm combat, eager to prove his superiority.

He was beyond anger, his mind and body coldly controlled by one primitive instinct: don't touch what's mine.

He should've anticipated that another one than he would remember the backdoor.

Lou once again scrambled to her feet, her head still throbbing with the pain of the blow. She tried massaging it and realized that blood was dripping from her brow.

She looked at the traces of red smeared on her fingers and seemed to come back to her senses for a few minutes.

She was in Deck's office. Man, would he be mad when he found out the mess they had put in here!

She had to get away otherwise the guys would never stop fighting and they could and _would_ get hurt.

The handcuffs… what had she done with the handcuffs?

Lou replayed in her mind the scene in which she had thrown them against the wall. Why on earth had she done something so stupid? It seemed like, at the time, someone else than her had taken over her body, leaving her a passive spectator.

Avoiding the males' fighting area, she managed to reach the handcuffs. She kneeled to recollect them and as she turned around, Alec fell inches in front of her.

He had fallen on his chest and the impact had momentarily dragged all the air out of his lungs.

Their eyes met for just a second and during that second, she was tempted to help him, to come to his aid. Why shouldn't she? After all she was responsible for all this…

Alec broke eye contact and his eyes fell on the handcuffs Lou was clutching a bit too tightly.

She thought she saw him smile, but too quickly, he turned around and from the ground, aimed a kick at Devon's shin.

Lou spun around and fled from the room, leaving the two males to further wreck the office.

The girls' bathroom… that was where she had to go … a childish secure thought made her believe that this was were no man was supposed to go and that there, she would be able to stop fighting, to let the monster come out and she, Lou would let it take over and rest.

Finally.

-------------------

The battle taking place in the cafeteria was dying out as the soldiers were coming in, heavily charged with tranquillizer loaded guns.

Thankfully, most affected males fell within seconds.

Of course, a few shots were lost. Eventually, one hit an infuriated Mole because he just didn't seem to want to stop the fighting.

Jondy joined Lydecker's men and came as back up for Syl and Noah who were out of breath and beyond exhaustion.

Now that everything was almost back the way it was supposed to be, Lydecker was organizing different patrols so as to control the rest of the facility for any strayed transgenic.

He needn't have a bothered. As he pushed the door of his office, he was tempted to think that something wasn't quite right: the door was ajar.

As he pushed it carefully, the door still creaked in its hinges.

He slowly peered inside and besides the incredible mess that was his office, he noted a more singular detail: a knocked out X5 spread on his floor.

-------------------

He stopped on the threshold of the girl's bathroom.

He deeply inhaled as if he hadn't had access to air that pure in a very long time; an air filled with pheromones. X5 494 devilishly smirked and took a step forward, finally exhaling.

Only then did he start paying attention to the sounds around him. Water was running and covering up most of the other noises but he could still hear it… her harsh, hoarse, rhythmic breathing.

He took another few steps making a great deal out of controlling himself.

He had won and he had come to collect his prize. No need to hurry, that's what he was trying to tell his body that was pressuring him, wanting him to get on with it because it just couldn't take the wait any longer; not now that it was so close to having what it had been craving for all day long.

But X5 494 wanted to play a little longer; finding some kind of morbid pleasure in punishing himself, in making his own body long.

That would only mean more merit in taking the prize.

He gave a semi-circular look around the room; his hazel green eyes finishing their path on the corner of the room where he knew, without looking, she was located.

There she was and the sight of her, there, still unaware of his presence, only increased the pressure of his body on his mind.

She hadn't even bothered closing the shower curtain.

Water was running freely over her flushed body, the pressure of the water turning parts of her body pink or maybe it wasn't the result of the water but simply the heat. That same water was spreading freely on the floor and reaching his shoes.

X5 494 took a little longer than required capturing this image of her.

She was sitting on the shower's cold stony floor, looking down, her curls in her face, one hand supporting her head, the other loosely hanging up, handcuffed to the tap.

He could feel her high body temperature; the icy cold water doing nothing to cool it down.

The heat was stronger than any kind of cold. You could've placed the female X5 in the middle of Siberia and she _still_ would've acted like a thermometer about to explode.

Water mixed with sweat gave her skin a gleaming aspect and redefined her brown curls.

X5 494 took another step, his foot clapping in the water that lay before him.

She heard it.

She looked up, saw him and all attempt at fighting the power of the heat was dashed.

You were no match against heat, so why even try?

Slowly, like a predator, she got to her feet and meant to close the gap between their two inflamed bodies, but something forgotten held her back.

The metal of the handcuffs dug deep into her burning skin but she didn't even frown; it clicked against the water tap as she took a step back, falling in her initial position.

X5 494 tilted his head to the side, his eyes carefully looking at her from head to toe: bare feet, naked shapely muscled legs, perfectly flat stomach, soaked see-through white top barely covering her breasts after her last encounter with Devon.

Her chest was heaving by now irregular but still loud breathing; her body wanting his as much as his wanted hers.

X5 494 absentmindedly licked his upper lip and, as if to prove what was going inside of her was mirroring what was taking place inside of him, she slowly, sensuously bit her lower lip.

Without taking his eyes off her, X5 494 slowly put his hand in his jeans pocket and drew out, with a nasty smirk, a small silver key.

He threw the tiny key in her direction; she caught it and turned herself free without ever breaking eye contact.

Now she could move and that meant that he no longer had exclusive control of the situation. Not that it bothered him in any kind of way; it was just making things more exciting and challenging.

The dual would no longer be taking place within him, but between them.

Thy both still seemed frozen in place.

Only one element in the room appeared animated: the water. It was running on her shoulders mixing with messy brown hair, down her back and to the floor, spreading at his feet; water being the only connection between them.

Their eyes were locked and both thought the vision of the other was getting blurry they were both staring so much, staring in excitement and desire.

Something flickered in X5 515's brown eyes and a similar response was reflected in the male's eyes.

They blurred across the room and stopped chest to chest as still as they had previously been.

If a third person had witnessed this scene, had they blinked, they would've thought that the two X5s had just popped out of thin air and closer to each other and that no movement whatsoever had resulted in the fact that they were now millimeters apart from one another.

X5 515 could feel X5 494's breath on her face, a breath betraying both excitement and impatience mixed with a vain attempt at self control now that she, the object of his desire, was so close.

She lifted her head back a little in order to see him more properly: his cheekbones seemed highlighted in pink, his lips, unusually red, were slightly opened, allowing her a quick glance at white teeth and his eyes, though they hadn't looked at anything but her in the last five minutes, seemed unfocused.

Her eyes narrowed, the tip of her tongue showed and played on her own lips, gently humidifying them and her head tilted slightly to the side.

Everything seemed in slow motion.

He lowered his head, placing his lips right in front hers that were full and pink.

She brushed her lips against his; giving him a taste of what was bound to come, tempting him with a taste of her.

He could smell her, not just the pheromones, but her. She smelt like something sweet, like something he could just devour right here and right now and oh how he craved to.

His lips parted more and everything went back to normal transgenic speed; no human could've followed.

In the space of a heartbeat, he threw one of his arms around her waist and lifted her up in order to gain more access to her mouth; the tip of her toes barely making contact with the wet floor.

She was completely resting against him; arms wrapped around his neck, letting him take the advantage.

Never breaking the connection between their two mouths, he blurred forward, pushing her with him back in the shower cubicle.

There was nothing she could do; she no longer had any sort of balance. And even if she had been able to, she wouldn't have stopped him.

Her back connected with the cold wet wall and in seconds, X5 494's warm body was against hers; pressing her against the wall she had been resting against when he had first come in.

His hands were all over her body; their contact fluid and slippery from the water that had never stopped its own action.

_His mouth… oh, his mouth…_

His tongue was exploring her entire mouth, first playing with her own tongue, and then imposing its own rule.

It felt harsh yet the contact was soft; his grip was firm as he had one hand around her head constantly dragging her closer, constantly deepening the kiss, letting the feverish passion that was consuming him, flow as freely as the water running down his back.

He pressed his body even more tightly to her and X5 515 felt the contrast between the cold, hard wall against her back and the raging, passionate touch that was X5 494's.

Her hands had made their way under his shirt and up, pressing his shoulder blades against her, digging her nails into his skin.

She broke away from the kiss, recollecting her breath and turned her head away leaving him access to yet other unexplored areas.

He took it all.

Still, one hand lost in her curls, he let his mouth wonder around the curves of her jaw, chin and neck. Once he reached her collarbone, he made the same path backwards, letting his tongue rather than his mouth lead the way, devouring her.

It led him near her ear and he grabbed her earlobe between his teeth, pulling gently.

Something came from deep within her; a low, constant, soothing noise escaped her lips.

The animal had taken over a while back and was now expressing the exquisite pleasure it was feeling. X5 515 didn't seem surprised by it; there was nothing she could do to stop the purring as long as X5 494 kept doing what he was doing.

His other hand had traveled down her back and the curve of her hips, to her butt and was now on its way back up, bringing her leg up with it.

Without, neither letting her go, nor interrupting the contact of his tongue against her neck, he pushed further into the space that was her spread legs.

Her hands went from X5 494's shoulders down to his buttocks.

There, they applied an even stronger pressure, joining his effort, feeling that they yet weren't close enough, that there had to be more, wanting him to be all over her, wishing him to cover her entire body with his hands.

This was a contest, a challenge; two animals unleashed and wanting to satisfy their wants and needs. And what X5 515 wanted, was dominance.

She switched the advantage to hers, and in a brutal, animal kind of way, she rolled X5 494 to the side.

His back was now against the cold wall, but the absence of his body against her made her shiver.

She immediately jumped on him, her legs spread.

He caught her and helped her up, both his hands locked under her butt, her legs wrapped around his waist, her hands around his neck.

Her bent knees made contact with the wall and she reached for his demanding mouth again while ripping his shirt apart.

Both her hands then locked around his neck as he pushed his mouth in hers, lips mouthing a wordless desire to make them merge, to make their entire bodies merge.

Water was now falling down her spine but X5 494 was the one soaked, not that he cared, he would've been soaked in sweat if it hadn't been for the water.

But the animal in him wanted more, he hadn't wrestled with his mind to let her take over, it wasn't a matter of giving and taking, it was just taking, taking as much as you could and they both were aware of that.

He propelled himself against the opposite wall.

She was once again backed against the stone, cold wall of the shower cubicle and he was pressing her against it.

Her ankles locked around his back and he pushed further, took her further more and more.

She deepened the kiss – even that was even possible – taking advantage of her transgenic breathing techniques; making sure she, too, was taking further more and more.

What happened next, neither X5s could recall precisely.

Pants were striped down, more shirts were ripped off, more rolling over was involved, more pushing and much, much more taking.

-------------------

Lydecker entered the cafeteria calmly, far more calmly than he truly felt.

He gave a circular look at the mess that was now left. Those few transgenics that could still stand were exiting the cafeteria and heading for their dorms. The injured and drugged were being transported to the medical wing where a bed-penury was surely taking place.

Jondy was taking care of her sisters while leaving her brothers to others or manage themselves and others.

It was funny, the colonel noted, this temporary resentment, even though there was nothing the males could've done to prevent all that had happened.

Somehow, Lydecker who knew his kids far more than they suspected he did, was willing to bet that in the days to come Syl, Jondy and the rest of the girls would be cold and distant towards Krit, Zane and the others.

Interestingly enough, Zack might be exempted from this treatment as he had kept a some semblance of self control. Plus, the fight had kept him busy and with something else on his mind.

Lydecker understood the girls' reaction: you don't get away with trying to bang the little sister just like that, whether you're simply the brother or worse, the lover.

Those were the thoughts that he was ruminating on on his way back to the video surveillance room.

"Um… Sir?" one of his officers politely addressed him.

"Yes?" he replied patiently though he felt older and more exhausted than he had ever felt.

"The girl… the one that caused all this"

"Lou? What about her?"

"Our three men that were in charge of escorting her have just come back. Apparently, she's gotten away from them. And quite some time ago too"

"Why am I not surprised?"

"There's more Sir" the soldier added before taking a step on his left.

Lydecker could then have a clear look at the screen the soldier had been standing in front of. It was a video that was placed in the girls' bathroom. It offered only a partial view of the room to preserve the girls' intimacy. But for once, it showed more than enough.

Lydecker closed his tired eyes as he switched off the screen. He then turned around and came face to face with Jondy. The expression on her face left no doubt as to whether or not she had seen what was on the screen.

Lydecker merely looked at her and she returned his stare. He thought he could read several things in her big blue eyes: an incredible sadness. A painful memory of too many morning-afters but also a trace of blame.

He was partly responsible for all this after all. He had helped making them the way they were: human but also victims of savage primitive instincts, as primitive as animals sometimes. Victims of their own perfectly designed DNA.

He could think of nothing to say. There was nothing to say, nothing he could tell that would take away the blame and the shame that came with the day's events.

And anyway, Jondy wasn't expecting any words.

-------------------

"Ah… home sweet home" Logan ironically said as he smelled the clinical air of the facility.

Their few days escapade had done him good… had done both of them good.

So much, that they had decided to leave in the evening, rather than early in the morning; delaying, even if just for a few hours, their return to the facility and to all the responsibilities that awaited them there.

Surely, Zack could manage one more day without her. And surely, Lydecker would take his time to come back from his mysterious road trip with Joshua. Why, then, should they be in a hurry to come back?

As they were reaching the bottom of the stairs that led to their room, Max was distracted. She somehow could tell that something wasn't right.

She hadn't been expecting a welcoming committee, but surely someone must have announced to the others that their car was back and surely a few of her brothers and sisters would have come out to meet her.

It was kind of late. Surely, they weren't all in training.

But there was something else. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on… was it just something in the air, an intuition, a feeling that something wasn't right.

Logan was still talking but she couldn't seem to force her mind to register the words he was speaking.

Instead, a shudder ran through her as she heard her name spoken half as a sob, half as a beg… the low, plaintive call of a ghost.

For a second, she doubted she had heard it at all. She thought her mind was playing tricks on her.

"Max?" Logan asked, looking down at her with an inquiring look.

Of course, he was finding the whole situation somewhat funny. He was halfway up the stairs while her foot was still frozen on the first step.

"Max?" Logan asked again, more concerned.

"Um… yeah, I'll be right there. I've just remembered there's something I gotta do, 'k?" she answered a bit too quickly for it to sound authentic.

She was sure Logan could tell but he didn't say anything. With a shrug, he turned around and continued his progression up the stairs to their room.

Following her instinct and the phantomlike voice, Max went round the stairs and found what she was looking for beneath it.

The sight was somewhat more pitiful than she had expected.

Her little sister was standing in the stairs' shadow, arms wrapped around her practically naked self, drops of water rolling down her shaking body and on the floor, creating a slippery pond around her bare feet.

Lou looked every inch the part of a broken child.

As Max got closer, she smelled rather than saw the dried blood on her sister's brow and that particular odor of sex emanating from her sister.

"Lou? Are you all right? What's happened?" Max asked urgently.

Lou took a few uneasy breathes before answering in a trembling voice:

"I… I wish I didn't remember"

Max pulled off her jacket and put it around Lou's shoulder. She didn't say anything else; it hadn't taken her ages to put two and two together, but she now had a lot of questions. They would have to wait.

She helped Lou up the stairs and politely asked Logan to leave them alone. Whether or not he had understood why, Max was grateful for his not asking when he caught a brief glance at Lou.

-------------------

She felt filthy and unclean; soiled with dirt that no soap could ever wash away. Dirt incrusted within her and that she had no way of getting rid of.

Max had allowed her to take refuge in Logan's private bathroom. Though her hair was still wet from… _earlier events_, Lou had felt she could use another shower.

She had entered the small, sober room neighboring Max and Logan's bedroom and her hands had automatically turned on the tap, grabbed a hold of the shower gel and the shampoo and started accomplishing the daily ritual. She had then rinsed her entire body thoroughly and was now making a vain attempt at relaxing her tired muscles with a jet of hot water.

Vapors were rising from all around her, clouding up the narrow room and fogging up the tiny mirror.

Lou turned the tap furthermore, allowing more pressured warm water to roll down her head and weigh her long brown hair in her face. Then, she bent her head, looking down though her eyes were closed; jets of water then had access to the back of her neck, her tensed shoulders and down her back marked by recently appeared runes.

She sighed deeply; yet another manifestation of an unwanted, unasked for and unwilled element locked inside her.

_Earlier events_… involving… Lou swore never to say his name again; neither to look nor speak to him; let alone _think_ of him! And it was all starting this very minute, right here and right now!

Lou opened up her eyes, blinking away several drops of water only to see pink patches had appeared on her exhausted body. Pink patches caused by both the high temperature and the pressure of the water escaping the tap.

Lou wondered why Max didn't use Logan's private bathroom more often; it was much more intimate then having to wait in line for one of the ten showers shared with several other female X5s to turn vacant.

The girl's showers… that reminded her of…

_No! Do not think of him!_

Lou's head rose in frustration and anger as she shook it from side to side, sending drops of water everywhere.

She immediately grabbed the shower gel for the second time, scrubbing it in her _dirty_ skin, her _dirty_ self and her _dirty_ soul.

Truth was, if she closed her eyes and concentrated hard enough, Lou could recall all the places _he_ had touched her; a phantom-like feeling of his fingers.

She could even recall the sensations it had generated within her.

And it had all felt soo good; it still did and she hated what had happened because it had felt so good! She hated him, she hated what they had done and above all, she hated herself for letting any of it happen!

Heat wasn't a drug dashing all your inhibitions and fears, like alcohol. Heat was far more crueler: it reduced you to a victim of the most primitive aspects of your animal DNA and you were to remember _exactly _what had happened each time you turned into what some would call "your average male".

Unlike alcohol, it didn't even offer you the compensation of memory loss.

No, she recalled his scent - not that it was too hard as it was still all over her, stronger than the soap's perfume.

She recalled the delightful moans and groans they had both let out.

She remembered every muscle curve and inch of his body. Hell, she could even retrace it with her eyes closed!

And she hated it all so much!

The patches on her skin turned red at the never ending scrubbing on her already sensitized flesh. Lou unconsciously felt it necessary to rub her skin raw, particularly on the spots where he had marked her: neck, inner elbow and chest.

Silent at first, tears started rolling down her cheeks.

As she looked skywards, a strong jet of warm water pushed back her brown hair and mixed with the salty drops on her face.

Lou placed her two palms flat against the shower's white tilled opposite wall.

Her chest rose, abruptly lifted by her irregular breathing and a sob that escaped her lips.

The first of a very long line; until Lou couldn't remember how long she had been there, having completely lost track of time, sitting her arms wrapped around her knees, crying in Logan's shower.

-------------------

Alerted by the loud sobs and the incredible long amount of time her sister was taking, Max had shyly pushed the door to Logan's bathroom open and peeped her head through.

The picture before her had struck her like lightning, bringing back painful memories of her own past.

Max stood on the threshold for several seconds, staring at the small naked form lost in the endlessly rising steam, curled up in the corner of the shower and dangerously shaking under the strong power of its own cries as water washed over it.

She couldn't believe that this teary and frightened little child was her Lou, 'Posh X5'.

Max deeply exhaled - she hadn't realized she had been holding her breath - and tried to gulp down the knot forming in her throat.

Her brown eyes never releasing from their gaze her little sister's fragile-looking form, Max took a determined step into the room, grabbed a dry towel from the towel rail and walked to her baby sister; ready to save her for the second time that evening.

She came to a stop, left hand holding the dry towel, right turning the tap off.

She looked down at the naked form beneath her; her visibility cleared now that the room appeared less foggy. Max caught a glance at a pair of puffy red eyes as her sister met her gaze.

Lou sniffed loudly, the sound echoing through the room, now that the noise generated by the running water had been extinguished.

With the protective and caring gesture of a mother, Max bent down; and as her knees connected with the wet floor of the shower, she wrapped Lou in the dry towel.

'Posh X5' surrendered, like a puppet, in Max's arms as the latter whispered soothing words into her ear:

"I know what it's like. I understand. It's over now and things are going to be all right, I promise"

Yes, Max _did_ understand as she _did _remember.

Heat was crueler than alcohol and she remembered what it was like to go after Rafer while Logan was waiting all alone in his penthouse apartment.

She understood the feeling of filthiness that was like an infection gnawing at you from the inside.

She knew it was over… but that there would be more to come. More heats, more bad things, each tougher than the previous one and always more and more…

As for the promise, never had things ever seemed quite so unclear.

The atmosphere in the room was still warm, but Lou shivered from deep down inside.

Her sobs stopped at once and she seemed to be taking an everlasting inhalation. Her entire body appeared frozen in Max's arms, every muscle appearing so tensed it felt like it would never move again.

Max looked down at her sister; Lou's eyes seemed focused and a deep frown marked her forehead.

All of the sudden, she stumbled to her feet, requiring both Max and the wall's support to stand properly.

In a whisper, as if out of breath, Lou said:

"Zane… we gotta get to him… he… he's in trouble"

Max nodded, wrapped the towel around her sister's shoulders again and as they walked out of the bathroom.

… _and always more and more._

-------------------

**End of Chapter X**

**Note: **I know Lou reacts differently to heat than Max but I think that's one of the things that changes according to the person. I think all females would react differently. Max is hyperactive when she's lucid and transitions from one state to another are brutal. It acts more like a drug when it comes to Lou. Others might not even have lucidity moments. I think it all depends on the girl's temper. I hadn't written it like this the first time, I hadn't even thought of it but now that's it's done, I kinda like it this way. What d'you think?

And as always, please review… for some reason, I imagine you guys to be more interested by Alec's reaction and how it's all going to work out between him and Lou, rather than by what's actually happened to Zane…


End file.
